Look Before You Leap
by jerry533482
Summary: 5 years have gone by since the events of TLM2. Triton passed away shortly after the wall was taken down, and Ariel is as protective as ever. But when she finally begins to relent and takes her daughter exploring beneath the waves, a series of events unfold that nearly claim Melody's life. But she survives, and is given the opportunity to change history. Updates every Friday. :)
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

I have to give a huge shout out to my proofreader Maryanne Jarvey, she has helped me so much in the last six months and transformed what was a word jumble into what you see here. :D She is also the author of "A Change Of Pace", a read I would definitely recommend if you're a fan of the little mermaid.

Chapter 1

_Melody... _She heard the distant voice calling her name, but ignored it.

She was strolling along the beach, where a marvelous wall once stood. In its absence the water flowed inland a good ten feet further; and it was this area where Melody was pacing back and forth.

It was her victory dance over it, her silent declaration of a triumph. She had won back her heritage, and she showed it not with a word, but an action. The bare shore was a symbol of the union between land and sea.

Every few seconds the water would brush over her feet and then recede, in a rhythm. To her it represented seasonal visits to Atlantica, but in a way she felt as though she lost part of the sea each time it left.

Almost like she had lost her grandfather.

_Melody... _It was the same voice from earlier. Melody stopped for a moment, bewildered by the strange voice.

"Melody, wake up!" The young mermaid was jolted from a dream. "It's time to get up sleepyhead." Ariel told her daughter as Melody rubbed her eyes.

"Mom it's too early..." Melody yawned. "Plus it's the weekend."

"I know but if we don't go early we won't be able to because of everything going on today and all. And if you want to get back by sunrise." After a few more groggy moments Melody finally gave an affirmative.

"I'll get dressed."

"Great." Ariel's face lit up. "I'll meet you outside."

After her mom left Melody went to the incredibly simple task. Under the sea all mermaids had to wear was the obligatory seashell pair (mermen in fact had no obligations), versus the requirements of society above. Getting dressed was mostly a matter of fixing your hair and makeup, if any.

_Going exploring for treasures. _Melody thought to herself. _What a way to spend the day. _

She had never actually gone exploring with her mother due to her protective nature, and only recently did Ariel change her mind. Nonetheless Melody figured it wouldn't be all that exciting anyways. An undersea graveyard probably only held so much interest for an individual profound in human knowledge.

_Well it makes mom happy, so why can't I just do it for her? _After finding a clean red pair of red seashells she began working on her hair.

_ Nothing too fancy. Not seeing any boys today anyways._

After fiddling with her brush and a clip, she wondered why she was doing so much for something that would likely undo her work.

_ You know what, I think I'll wear my hair down today. S_he had already familiarized herself with the style since she was 13 anyways. A lot of folks she knew said it was prettier as well.

"Are you ready yet dear?" Ariel called.

_No, but I am as much as I'll ever be._ With one more glance at the mirror she grabbed her small bag, and swam outside the room.

"Let's go mom."

"I wonder where we'll go today?" Her mother asked her a minute later, although Melody knew full well she had the trip planned thoroughly, or at least for the most part.

"Think we'll see any sharks?" Melody asked to her mother's surprise.

"Oh no of course not Melody, the area we're going to is free of those types of things."

_Of course it is. It always is. _Melody thought to herself. As she let her mind wander she gazed upon the ceramic pillars that made up the halls; interestingly there was gaps in between them, meaning one could in a sense see around the structure, albeit to a limited extent.

The pair continued through the vast yet surprisingly uncomplex assortment of corridors. About a minute later they reached the end of the maze, and they were in the main lobby.

"Shh. Let's not disturb anyone," Ariel whispered. She still had the slightest sense of rebelliousness in her.

Just before they could swim beyond the first doors a familiar voice stopped them.

"Ariel." It was Attina, her eldest sister. In her right hand she wielded the instrument of a ruler.

"I know what I'm doing Attina, I've been exploring for years." The queen responded with a frown.

"Not since you were sixteen," She nitpicked. Ariel nonetheless won the argument.

"There are some things you never forget Attina." Ariel insisted. "And besides, I think Melody is old enough now." The queen hesitated for a moment and then sighed.

"Still...be careful." And with a lingering gaze she left. Ariel continued in the lead and her and her daughter progressed beyond the palace gates, all the way through the city. At last they left Atlantica's borders, to explore what laid beyond.

A/N (moved down here so you don't have to read it all up there!):

Canon-wise, this story follows TLM 1 & 2, the TV series, and Ariel's Melody (IMHO a great script). I highly stress that you actually read this fanfic as I've learned from my dear proofreader Ms. Jarvey that parts of the story are confusing if you are unfamiliar with Ariel's Melody. For those unable to though here's a brief summary: just weeks before TLM II melody is born, just as a villainous circus leader (aka Mephisto) reaches the kingdom, and proceeds to turn Ariel and Eric against each other. His crew then kidnaps Ariel, and I'll leave the rest. Needless to say that should be enough for you guys to make sense of the references.

Inspired by: all 3 films, the TV series, Ariel's Melody (By Furor Scribendi), A Change of Pace (by Maryanne Jarvey), BTTF, You'll be in my heart (from the Tarzan soundtrack), the cover from TLM II video game, the 2009 film star trek, the mediocrity of TLM II, Ariel's words "If there was one thing in my life I could do over I...", the TV series episode "T'ank you for dat, Ariel", the CD "Songs from the Sea", and the artwork of Melody as a teenager by stargate4ever23.

Also this whole story is already complete so no worries on the updates guys (Once a week from here on)!

-Jerry533482


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Somewhere else on the other side of the ocean a deep ravine seemed to carve up the earth in an area that many considered desolate of most forms of life. The bottom of it was not like many other cliffs in this county in that it was visible instead of seemingly falling right into the earth. Very near the lowermost rocks but not quite all the way, the faintest signs of a resident just barely shone themselves in an obscured chasm. The deformity was in fact a front door.

Inside that dwelling a merman lived.

The innards of the cave behind the rock beheld the roughest approximations of rooms; a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In the living room was an older merman.

He was inspecting a vat just in the center of the room. Inside was a mixture, composed of deceased sea creatures. Not very legal in these parts of the sea. He seemed to dislike the concoction; not because he pitied the ingredients, but because he considered it archaic.

In a silent stroke he left the pot and made his way into the makeshift kitchen, clearing some things from a "cupboard" in the wall. Behind the items and some stalagmites a jar of just barely glowing violet crystals shone themselves against the glass.

It was odd; hiding things in here even though the place itself was obscured. Even if he was found his mere presence out of bars was illegal enough for the jar to be harmless to him. Perhaps he did it in case of thieves or some other reason.

He returned to the living room with the jar, setting it down and trying to think again. His stare was interrupted by a polyp in the background on the floor. Normally he wouldn't mind it but the creature now seemed to sport an expression of insubordination.

"Stop staring at me you worm!" He screamed at the polyp. "You brought this on yourself by coming down here." His warning went unheeded as the polyp just continued its glare.

"You think you're tough?" The merman said menacingly, before reaching his grasp for a jar of glowing powder. "Very well. You will make a fine substitute for the lamp tonight."

Suddenly the polyp's expression grew into terror, and it tried to move away, but its rooting would not give.

"Let's see how tough you truly are," The merman declared.

Atop the canyon and a good 50 yards away there was a stretch of shells from the clam vine. Suddenly one of them popped to life and spoke to the one next to him.

"Ooo, there's rumors that a seaquake is coming!" The clam said to his friend, who in turn sent the message further along the line.

"Ooo a seaquake, that's bad!" Another clam even further down exclaimed. The message continued along the vine, for many miles.

All the way to Atlantica.

A/N:

I'd honestly have to say without reading Ariel's Melody I wouldn't have seen the necessity for a background chapter. Again I will refrain from spoilers, but this guy plays a part later on. Like, a BIG part.

I would also like to say that from here on I intend to reply to any and all reviews that I get; given the fact that I've seen other authors of exceptional taste do the same. :)

-Jerry533482


	3. Chapter 3

It's that time of the week again guys! And without further ado...

Chapter 3

Ariel led her daughter past the local reefs, beyond the nearby gardens, and even to the edge of the undersea county. She seemed to be a natural at this. She didn't have that panic mood most do when they wander far from home. No, out here Ariel felt tranquil; just as she had come to feel on land.

It wasn't the Ariel Melody was used to.

"So you went out here a lot as a kid?" Melody asked her mother. Ariel looked back at her with a grin.

"All the time. Until I met Eric of course."

"Well duh," Melody retorted in a sarcastic manner. It was that very attitude that made her family one of the land and sea.

"I went all the time with my friends. Flounder, Urchin, and even Sebastian came along sometimes." The statement surprised Melody. She didn't believe the little crab ever had a taste for adventure, given the way he had always scolded her on breaking the rules when she was younger and even now every time she visited.

They made some more small talk and Melody awaited the grand appeal exploring was supposed to have on her, as her mother had said.

Until something went wrong.

They had passed the same geyser for the fourth time, and not just Ariel took notice.

"Where are we Mom?" Melody asked.

"I'm not sure," Her mother sighed. "It's just that it's been so long. Maybe I should have come back here more after I was married."

_ You don't say,_ Melody thought to herself. After circling several more times, her mother admitted defeat.

"We're going to be late going back," Ariel said hesitantly. "I'm sorry Melody. I thought I knew this area better, but I guess I don't. We won't get to do this today."

They finally broke the circle, but ended up somewhere unknown again. Repeatedly. By the time it was obvious several hours had passed Ariel noticed Melody had an angry stare on her face.

Ariel looked at her daughter for a moment.

"Melody dear, was there something you were late for?" She asked. Melody looked back at her with the same stare and no words.

She had a suppressed mood, and it was coming out. She wouldn't mention it though, for fear she'd look selfish.

Every time Melody visited Atlantica she made an effort every other day before sunrise to leave her condolences at her grandfather's old garden. He was buried near it, but when he was alive he made a similar effort for his late queen. In a way Melody felt this connected her with her grandparents, whom she'd barely ever known. And because of Ariel she would miss it.

"So are you going to just build a wall to fix this?" Melody blurted haphazardly, her voice wreathing of venom.

"What?" Ariel asked, confused at first. "Melody you know why we did that..."

"Why did you do it Mom?"

"It was Morgana; she would have caused you harm!" Ariel scolded her in a defensive tone. "Melody, you know a day doesn't go by without me regretting that decision..."

"What about grandfather?! It was because of that dumb blockade that he couldn't get treatment early enough." The statement seemed to hit a nerve in her mother.

"I don't have to have this conversation," Ariel stated firmly.

"Why?!" Melody scoffed. "Because I'm right?" In light of the tension between her and her mother Melody distanced herself slightly, hurt and enraged at the same time.

"You know maybe bringing you out today was a bad idea. Maybe you are still too young," Ariel said, trying to swiftly resolve the matter.

"Too young?!" Melody shouted suddenly. "How? I'm almost a legal adult!"

"You have no sense of self-control!" Ariel shot back. "Or responsibility for that matter!"

"Responsibility?!" Melody borderline yelled. Had she not been in such a desolate region she would have attracted a crowd by now. "Look who's talking!"

"You're just too young!" Ariel repeated. After those words left her mouth a period of very painful silence followed. Melody now believed that her mother had honestly come to accept that, word for word.

"Maybe I am too young," Melody said quietly. "But I'd rather stay that way, than do some stupid exploring with the woman who killed my grandfather!" She spoke higher and higher until she peaked, before tearing off in the other direction to hide her newly found tears.

She didn't know where she was going. Anywhere really, just so long as it was away from her mother. She couldn't bear to face Ariel now, not after what she had just said.

She continued all the way to an undersea canyon, her mother's voice far behind her now, shouting some sort of warning. She ignored it and instead swam faster and faster while nearing the bottom of the ravine. After she realized she had lost her mother through various turns and formations Melody slowed down.

_ Now what? You can't stay out here forever. _Suddenly she heard a loud rustle and the very water around her began to tremble. Melody began to wish very deeply that she hadn't swum this deep.

The canyon walls shook with great force, and she could make out high atop boulders beginning to give in to gravity. She would have to act quickly to stay alive. Melody looked up frantically, to see which side would come down first, only to see both sides throwing debris. Within a split second she decided to swim straight and took off, probably faster than she ever had in her life.

Looking ahead in hopes of a close exit, she was petrified to see that the canyon seemed to stretch for miles. Out of the corner of her eye however a small cut in the rocks was visible; she hurried to it in hopes that it might lead her out of here.

After she cut the corner but before she could observe her new surroundings a huge rock nearly came down right on her back. In her desperate dodge for safety a flash of color she barely identified as a fish laying on the ground right in front of her caught her eye. She yanked it by the tail to get it out of the rock's path. As she lunged for safety she could just barely make out a yelp from the fish, probably because of how hard she had yanked on his tail. She continued to pull the fish until she saw an exit. Once they were finally safe she kept swimming for a bit, just to be safe. When she finally stopped she plopped the big fish down, and sat herself as well.

"You-you saved my life," The fish stated in disbelief, rubbing his tail.

"What else is new?" Melody asked, clearly annoyed, and shaking off the rubble that had caught in her hair. She then began inspecting herself for injuries.

"You could have simply gone on without me and gotten out of there faster," he said. "I was no better than an anchor."

"You were in my way," Melody pointed out. The fish shrugged.

"Still."

"Hey aren't you blowfish supposed to rhyme everything?" She asked curiously, finally recognizing the species.

I may not speak the heinously poetic tongue of my brothers, but I retain it in my spells." He waited for her attention only to find his attempts were in vain. "For your selfless act I will grant you a free wish." She was now rubbing a fresh cut on her face, and when she glanced at her hand it contained blood. "Get rid of this cut."

"Really? Just that?" He asked, surprised.

"Well no, I-. Oh jeez give me a minute to think." She turned away from him to escape eye contact; to free her thoughts.

_ Think, think, think... _No matter how hard she tried her thoughts kept going back to her grandfather now, to her disdain. Not just him, but the painful memories surrounding him.

"I don't have all day kid," He said, accidentally making Melody think of what had happened up until now, specifically right before the avalanche. Again she tried to push the unwanted thoughts from her mind, but the sense of time the fish instilled on her seemed to conglomerate everything. It brought a response from her even neither of them could have anticipated.

She began to sob, burying her face in her arms. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, the fish changed his tune.

"Hey, hey, hey hold on. It was nothing personal. Now listen, if you need more time that's fine. I just thought this was going to be one of those roundabout wishing sessions that break all the rules." he chuckled, hoping to lift her mood.

She stopped the audible sobs, and slowly raised her gaze.

"You know you look like you have some sort of really profound problem. I could probably fix it. Using your wish of course."

_ Fix it, _Melody thought. _Could he fix grandfather? _Figuring it was too good to be true she rejected the thought.

"Take your wish. I don't need it." Melody pieced the words together in between the subsiding sobs. "Consider it a good seamaritan deed."

"Alright but I never forget to pay a debt. If you change your mind here's my card. Rascus is the name, wishes are my game." He produced a card and laid it near her. Initially intending to say a proper goodbye, he refrained when he again saw how hurt she looked, so he instead quietly left her to her own peace.

She buried her head, wanting to curl up and wishing the day had never happened. Or at least she yearned that she could do it again.

_ Do it over. _Just like something her mother said to her a long time ago. "_Melody if there was one thing in my life I could do over I..."_

She brought her head back up and grabbed the card. "Rascus?" She called to the departing wizard fish.

"Yeah kid?"

"With the wish I... Well... It's kind of crazy." She pondered giving up the wish out of the possibility of him laughing at her.

"Go on."

"It's just. There's always been this thing between me and my mom, about my grandfather, Triton."

"You were related to him?" The fish asked.

"Yeah, but anyways as you probably know he died shortly after the wall dividing the sea from land went down. What you don't know is he kinda died because of the wall." The fish listened carefully, not doubting her. "He got sick, and there was this human treatment he could have gotten had the stupid wall not been there. And it all goes back to when the wall went up, 'cause this crazy sea witch attacked me when I was a baby..."

"Young lady, I can't bring back dead merfolk…" He said sadly.

"Well I'm not exactly asking that you do that. Even if Grandfather couldn't be helped, maybe even just preventing the wall from ever happening could change things just enough so that he could still be here..." Rascus's eyes got huge for a moment before a crazy smile grew on his face, like he knew exactly how the feat could be accomplished.

"It's possible."

"It is?" She asked, surprised. Ever since she was twelve things that were supposed to be impossible had a tendency to prove opposite, while usually pulling her into affairs pertaining to them.

"Let me look," He pulled a bag he had around his back, which had escaped Melody's attention. He retrieved a book from it, and sorted through the pages. "We're supposed to know all the spells by heart and there are some we're not supposed to use, but given the situation I think I can make an exception," He slowed, and finally found it. "So how far back do you wanna go?" She was completely unprepared for the question.

"Well I-I don't exactly know."

"Hey, you're Melody, niece of Queen Attina right?" Melody nodded slowly in response. "Oh and forgive me for not recognizing you. I travel a lot and don't see Atlantica all that much. But I know your situation," He said as if he had solved a huge math problem. "How about a few weeks before the wall came down?" He queried.

"That's way too little time." She said. There was a small enough chance even with the treatment he'd survive, a last minute recommendation would be no help.

"How about around the time you're born?" He asked.

_ Bingo! I won't even have to warn him. Not if the wall never went up._

"Much better I guess." She said, unsure of how she was going to actually go about and do this. The fish instructed her to move back, presumably to give him room to do the spell.

"Oh melodious forces rise into ascension, that you may garner a grasp on our dimension." After he said this a light hum permeated the area. Not an irritating one, but almost a musical instrumental in of itself.

"Caustic forces let your grip on time be smitten, so that our dear Melody's destiny may be rewritten." A fairly luminescent glow was coming off of the water before the both of them now.

"Winds of the forces beyond, ascend from the grime;"

Melody held her breath as the fish paused.

"Let there be... A rift in time."

And just as he said it the glow seemed to explode harmlessly and a rather small formation manifested itself in the water, almost unnoticeable. At first Melody mistook it for a large bubble, but she soon realized it was not hollow. A second later hundreds of tiny rotating rings began to circulate around it. She swam closer to touch it, only to draw her hand back when the rings seemed to go faster. In fact they sped up to the point where they seemed to not even be in motion, and the sphere itself seemed tranquil. It was a mystical sight.

"I gotta go through this?" She asked, unsure of whether to be excited or terrified. The fish chuckled.

"While it may look a bit odd, I can ensure you it won't be unpleasant. You'll spin for a bit, but not enough to hurl your seaweed," He chuckled. "Simply swim in and close your eyes. You'll start to rotate but relax and resist the urge to move, or it'll reset the charging. By the time you go through you'll miss any uncomfortably fast spins." She just floated there, almost overwhelmed by the opportunity that had presented itself.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this…" She said, unsure.

"Oh come on, you've come this far, why not follow up? Chase your destiny?"

"You mean change it."

"Well..." He said. "Also you have three days."

"Only three days?!" Melody blurted out.

"A little less actually. You must return in the exact location you came around sunrise; the pool will stay open for thirty minutes. Any longer and I'll drain my magic to the point of no return," Rascus told her. "And that's pushing my reserves as it is." Overwhelmed by the time restraints, Melody pushed the concept aside for a moment, going closer to the sphere. Again she reached out her hand, this time not afraid.

"Also, you cannot take anyone with you. They will simply be thrown from the sphere," Rascus told her. Her hand breached the surface, and inside the sphere it was peaceful, almost like a massage. But she could tell it held more than just the power to tickle.

"I'll go." She made up her mind. He grinned, happy for her in that she might pursue her own happiness.

"All aboard Melody." With one last deep breath she swam in. Despite his assurances she still expected discomfort, but a couple seconds in she realized he was right. Even as she began spinning the dizziness was incredibly mild. As she closed her eyes she seemed to rotate faster, and several moments later a growing bright light scraped at the back of her eyelids. She didn't dare open her eyes in fear of damaging them.

Then finally, it all stopped.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Melody finally opened her eyes to see she was swimming to the surface. With a quick glance she noticed there were many others swimming with her. Rather than stopping she kept on, figuring they were headed somewhere important.

As the masses neared the surface, Melody began to make out a group chorus. She joined in, happy to be obliged.

"_Up from the sea we rise_

_ Up to the world of skies_

_ There's never been, not ever before_

_ A child born of sea and shore_

_ Up from the sea we rise_

_ Up to the world of skies_

_ Forever to be, together as one_

_ Under the sea, and under the sun"_

The group effort halted to allow a familiar redhead to deliver a powerful solo.

_ M__om. She seldom sang when I was growing up. She should h__ave more. She always had such a beautiful voice. _

After Melody regained her primary senses, she realized Ariel was singing to an infant. She squinted in an effort to see better who it was.

_ Huh. _She looked off to the side to see Scuttle perched on a mast, and Sebastian and Flounder by the ship's stern.

Soon after Atlantica's royal guards surfaced, to guide the arrival of a king. She turned to face them.

_ Grandfather._

As Triton saw his granddaughter for the very first time the chorus continued with the humans this time, along with Melody.

_ "Down to the sea we go_

_ Up from the sea_

_ Down to the world below_

_ Together we come, forever to be_

_ Under one sun, the land and the sea!"_

As the group finished the last lyrics a rainbow was erected across the sky by the power of Triton's trident. Following some loving words he presented the child with a locket Melody knew all to well. He opened it to a brilliant glow, one that held a life of its own.

All of a sudden a slimy tentacle forced its way into the scene and stole the baby.

"Melody!" Ariel screamed. A heinous laugh emerged, coming from a skinny Ursula riding on twin moray eels.

"Ursula's crazy sister!" Melody could just hear Sebastian yell. The witch's arrival was accompanied by a suddenly clouded sky.

"I didn't miss the cake and ice cream, did I?" The squid snarled, followed by another heinous laugh.

"Morgana…" Triton gasped, his Triton glowing more and more with his rage. "Surrender the baby or I'll-."

"Ah ah ah." The slimy witch cut him off and proceeded to kiss the baby on the cheek. Melody suddenly felt queasy to her stomach, even though the kiss had worn off seventeen years ago.

"Ursula would have simply loved to have come but something came up. Now, now, what was it?" She slithered her way onto the side of the ship, pretending to think. "Oh yes. You all...shish-kebabbed her! One minute you're on top, the next you're sushi." She grappled Grimsby by the collar with one of her many tentacles. "Now is that fair, gramps, I ask you?" She discarded him. "But then whoever said we had to play fair?" She climbed higher onto one of the rope ladders, laughing even further. "Oh Undertow!" She called out in a disturbed tune. Melody looked around in search of the familiar newcomer and saw a massive shark push its way through the crowd. She turned pale when he didn't turn out to be the one footer she remembered.

The shark stopped within feet of the ship and looked upwards towards his apparent master as Morgana leaned out, holding the infant over the monster's jaws.

"Now hand over the trident, or your precious granddaughter will be shark chow!" She demanded. With the tables turned Triton could no longer call the shots.

"You can have... anything you want. Just don't harm little Melody," He called out, his hand up in defeat.

Melody couldn't believe her eyes at what had just happened, all so quickly.

"Well well. I get the trident..." She told them whilst strolling along the edge of the ship. "Avenge poor, unfortunate Ursula...and gain all the powers of the ocean! And it's not even ten O'clock." She laughed. "Not a bad morning."

Melody just floated there, frozen in time. They were all powerless.

Until Ariel broke the ice.

She drew her husband's sword and cut a supporting rope of the ship, swinging a mast into the sea witch.

_ Wow... I never thought Mom was capable of such a risk. _Melody thought to herself. Suddenly she realized the risk. _THE BABY!_

Morgana herself bounced into another rope ladder and flew into her moray eels, while losing the child. The shark took the chance and leapt up to swallow the infant, but was cut short by the trident and miniaturized. Eric managed to catch his daughter, settling Ariel's nerves.

"What have you done to me?!" Undertow screamed, bouncing back into the water. "Look at me! I'm an anchovy!" As he said this suddenly the notion that she should act now to change anything overwhelmed Melody, and she dove under the water; wading in closer to the boat in stealth. Morgana attempted to right herself on the surface of the water, only to be pulled down by Melody.

"You think it's funny to toss an infant around like that?!" She hollered, wrestling the skinny sea witch.

"Get off of me you insolent fool!" She retorted, simply throwing Melody off without effort, using her other 6 arms. The mermaid was flung right into the ship's side, knocking her clean out.

After Melody was taken care of the witch finished her speech. "This isn't the end Triton! It's just the beginning!"

"After her!" Triton bellowed, his guards hurrying to apprehend the sea witch, only to prove futile.

She disappeared into a black funnel of ink, along with her minions.

"You'll never find me! But I'll find you! And you precious granddaughter!"

"We shall not rest until that madwoman is vanquished!" Triton ordered. "Find her! Find her!" As he said the last words the Triton electrified the skies. "And somebody send for EMS!" He yelled, one of the first to swim up to Melody.

Melody looked around, the prior events leading to her here going through her head.

_An Atlantican hospital. _

"How long was I out for?!" She almost yelped, surprised that there was someone there to answer.

"Several hours dear, you should rest."

She leaned up in the bed, and almost even got out of it.

"You didn't receive any concussions child but you should still stay here, for observation. At least for a couple days." Melody's heart sank.

_What do I do?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Trying not to panic, Melody finally brought herself back to reality and tried figuring out exactly what had happened.

_ I came through, there was a big song and Triton gave me the locket. Then Morgana showed up and screwed everything. And then a certain little mermaid had to go off and attack the sea witch, in a stupid little attempt to start changing things and..._

"Ow."

Instead of more memories a numbing headache hit her. She rubbed her forehead, just as the nurse offered her cup with several small pills in it.

"These might help," the nurse offered. Melody accepted gratuitously, still sore nonetheless.

_And how the heck am I supposed to accomplish this crazy goal anyways? Preventing the wall? Saving Grandfather? _

Melody stopped her thoughts for a second in an effort to halt another migraine, letting the pills take effect. The nurse left soon after, presumably to help another patient. Suddenly she realized the stinging on her cheek, to feel a bandage over her cut from the seaquake.

_ Disinfectant. What is this, Southside? _She glanced at her wrist to answer the question. On her wrist was a band, one she had seen before due the occasional injury. It was the exact same, except for the older hospital insignia.

_ Southside. _She smiled at seeing the older logo. _Prettier. Atlantica did always have a fast EMS._

Several minutes later the nurse returned, with several papers in her hands.

"So where are your parents, dear?" The nurse asked. Melody quickly made a little white lie, as no one would believe the truth.

"They're uh... actually not in town right now." Melody bit her lip as the nurse raised her eyebrow.

"Any idea when they'll be back?" She inquired with a prodding tone.

_ Crap._

"They said they weren't sure, probably another few days." The nurse gave her the same suspicious glare.

"Well they have to sign these. But they can when they come to pick you up as you'll need to stay for a few days anyways." And with that the nurse left again.

_ I'll bet if they knew who I really was they wouldn't treat me like this. Then again Ariel would probably just take me to one of the throne's appointed doctors, like Grandfather did once._

As she spoke she looked at the underside of her tail, where a hardly noticeable scar remained. Suddenly the origin came to her like a lost dream, shattered remains piecing together to form a once very sharp memory.

She was playing just outside the castle walls with her friend Dash, when she had been unlucky enough to be bitten by an eel. He went to get help, when coincidentally Triton ran into her.

_ "Melody dear! One of your aunts decided to drop by for a surprise visit and your mother wanted you there..." He noticed Melody clutching her tail, trembling. "What on earth happened?" _

_ "Me and Dash were out collecting shells when this eel bit me..." She bit her lip, fighting screeching out in pain._

_ "Let me see it." He asked in firm yet gentle voice. She finally uncovered the cut and lifted her tail into her grandfather's view._

_ "Oh dear. Your Aunt Adella had something like this happen to her once. Let's get you back to the castle." He grabbed her hand and began in the direction they called home, but Melody barely moved._

_ "It hurts too much to swim," She said, the pain visible in her expression. "Maybe the doctor should come out here?"_

_ "Nonsense." Triton said, and he picked her up carefully. _

_ "Thank you grandfather." For a second a smile painted her face, before the same agonizing tone returned._

_ "There there Melody, it'll be alright." He assured her, making sure it was well known he would protect her. _

Luckily for her she found out she wasn't allergic, but nonetheless the event stuck in her memory as a gem of sorts, one of her grandfather. Her parents had come to her aid many times, even more than her grandfather, but she had been with them her whole life. She'd only seen Triton for maybe a half a year.

_ The little memories. _The thought of her grandfather brought tears to the back of her eyes, but she squeezed them back.

The sea was so much more fun then.

_ I gotta get out of here. To pull my thoughts together, away from all these watchful eyes. _She waited for several minutes, trying to concoct a plan.

"You have a visitor." Melody almost jumped as the nurse had surprised her.

"Oh, okay." A moment later a familiar yellow and blue fish entered the room.

"Flou... I mean hi!" Melody blurted, remembering he didn't know her, at least not yet.

"Hey I just wanted to say thanks for what you did today, even though it didn't go so smooth."

"I know, right?" She rubbed the back of her head again.

"Anyways I'm actually in a hurry. Me and my friends just wanted to wish you better, and say thanks for trying to help."

"Thanks for finding the time to say so." She thanked him right back.

"Anytime. Well I actually have to get back to the others so... I guess I'll see you around, hopefully soon," He said, and then quickly swam out the door in a hurry. She was happy that he had found the time to say hi, before a thought hit her.

_ Wait a minute, the search! He could help me seek a counsel with Triton, and we could find the witch! _It would be an excellent first step towards her goal.

Almost instinctively she lept up from the bed, this time without being reprimanded and quickly swam up to the door and peered past it. Flounder was nowhere in sight.

_ An escape? _She thought. _My head feels better. And I do know Southside fairly well..._Almost before she finished the thought she began edging past the door.

_ I can't believe you're doing this Melody…You are crazy, you are crazy, you are crazy! Why are you doing this!?_She finally left the door, swimming for the nearest route to the main exit._ Doing it. _

Southside had 4 floors; she knew from memory this was floor three. She disappeared down the nearest swimcase, for the second floor. As she did so she passed over several fish and other merfolk's heads.

As she sped through the second floor to reach the next swimcase she bumped right into the very same nurse from earlier.

"Hey you shouldn't be out of bed!" She said, Melody already continuing her dash.

"I was just using the restroom." She said, a second later disappearing down the next swimcase.

After Melody finally reached the first floor she swam even faster through the link hallway, for the main lobby. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Flounder speaking with someone at the front desk, before taking off in his own rush.

Dang it. She thought to herself. She continued right after him expecting to catch up with him immediately but instead she couldn't see him anywhere once she got outside.

Lost and confused, again she saw a small yellow blur in the distance, speeding around a corner. After sighing Melody took off again, in hot pursuit. _This isn't helping my headache. _She passed the corner and finally spotted him again he had finished speaking with a city official, and he was gone again.

_ Where the hell are you going so fast?! _She knew Flounder fairly well; he was like an uncle to her in her normal time. But then he was also older, chubbier, and a slow swimmer if she'd ever seen one. Now he was swimming faster than even a swordfish.

_ Dang it Flounder, slow down!_

She gave the H2O all around her everything her fin had, and just managed to keep the distance between them less than 50 feet.

"Flounder, wait!" She finally yelled out. "I need to talk to you!" He apparently couldn't hear her as he didn't even show a single sign of response. He continued throughout the outer edges of the city, past the gates and into the nearby secluded caverns. He finally stopped momentarily, before ducking under one of the many rocks she could see.

After she finally figured out which of the rocks he had disappeared behind Melody finally came to her senses and remembered what this place was.

_ Mom's old grotto. _It was where Ariel kept all her human treasures when she was a teenager. She could finally see the entrance, open, and she swam in. Much to her head's relief she could slow down.

"I'm sorry guys I came as fast as I could." Flounder gasped, out of breath.

"Jeez mon. If you went to see dat girl that got knocked out why didn't you tell me? I woulda' joined ya!" Sebastian eyeballed the yellow-blue fish. "Ya gotta communicate, mon!"

"Same here." A skinny teenage boy with blonde hair added. "In fact maybe we all should go right now..." He trailed, before seeing Melody peeping in from the entrance hall. When Flounder saw her he freaked, hiding behind a piece of furniture.

"I guess we won't have to mon." Sebastian said.

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed.

-Jerry533482


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"We have a visitor." The skinny one spoke, approaching her to offer a handshake.

"I swear, I didn't give away the location!" Flounder said behind the chair. "She musta' followed me!"

"Whoa whoa calm down Flounder, it's fine if other people know where the grotto is." The boy tried to calm him, still reaching out to Melody. "He gets so panicky at times."

She giggled and reached out to accept his greeting. "You don't say."

"Well now that you're here you may as well get to know us. I'm Urchin," He turned his gaze to the red crab. "This is Sebastian, and I think you know Flounder."

_ Old friends... _Melody thought. "Wait, you're Urchin?" She had only seen him once in her life before. Her mom had said he was an old friend and not much else. And he was close to thirty at the time, not a teenager. Not to mention he wasn't _this _skinny.

"Yeah. Haven't been around Atlantica for a while, though."

"So what's your name?" Flounder asked. His question sent her into a panic. She couldn't just say her name, and she didn't have any nicknames.

"You didn't ask de girl in de hospital?" Sebastian asked.

"I was in a hurry!" As he spoke Melody's eye caught on one of the books Flounder was still by, entitled _In Harmony._

"Harmony." She said, holding her breath.

"Nice name." Urchin told her. "Pleased to meet you Harmony."

"Likewise." She said, still shy despite the fact that she knew these people.

"So...what are you guys doing?"

"Oh, just fixing up Ariel's old grotto. She's an old friend." Urchin told her.

"You guys are actually _fixing_ this stuff?" She asked, observing a fragment. It was only one of the mass of rubble that populated the cave; as she brought her eyes up to the layers and layers of shelving she could see more like it, although there were some things left unscathed. _So these guys remade this place while the barricade was up._

"Yeah but we're not done yet. Actually we're lucky we even got this far given how much we slacked in the past few months." Flounder replied.

"What do you do, just glue it back together?" She asked.

"You can't very well use muddy-putty on most of this stuff, mon." Sebastian said. The origins of the substance came to his mind. "I wonder how dose little crab scouts are doing? Dey're graduates now." He stated proudly.

"We just sort and keep the stuff that's in one piece, we'll find replacements for the rest." Urchin answered her question. A second later he noticed her locket. "Nice necklace by the way." Melody looked down, realizing the complications that could arise. To her relief it was backwards, with her true name safely out of view. "Looks just like Melody's."

"My dad gave it to me when I was little." Melody lied, trying to bury the problem. Then an old topic came to her mind. "So isn't everyone supposed to be looking for the witch?"

"The search ended like an hour ago," Urchin shook his head.

"We came here after," Flounder stated.

"Jeez mon de kings been so depressed since he hasn't heard any news on Morgana," Sebastian muttered quietly. "He's even suspended all de upcoming celebrations!"

"Yeah that sucks," Urchin added.

"Dere's even rumors going about dat a big wall's gonna pave de shores of King Eric's beach!" The poor crab looked down, visibly upset.

_ You're not the only one._ Melody thought to herself.

"Well kids, I gotta get goin'. De king wanted to meet wit Ariel and Eric to discuss tings, and he wanted me dere." And with that the crab swam out the main entrance. Flounder nearly left with him until Melody said something.

"I... I have information on Morgana." She managed, realizing it probably sounded fishy since the entire kingdom was unable to say the same. Flounder and Urchin had the most befuddled looks on their faces.

"What?" Urchin said.

Ariel and Eric stood by the seaside awaiting news as Triton had instructed them to. After a good twenty minutes in almost total silence Ariel spoke up.

"Eric. What if they couldn't find her...?" Already so soft, her voice trailed away even lower. She moved her gaze to their child who was crawling about by her feet. Melody was the world to them, and for her sake Ariel hoped they could find a way out of this.

"Hush dear, you shouldn't think those things," Eric shunned the thought from his wife. There was several more seconds of the tantalizing quiet, before it was broken once more.

"But what if?" Ariel looked at her husband as he held her, hoping again he could find a way to calm her.

"Then we'll deal with it," He said plainly. His ability to face the truth no matter how ugly and reveal it to his wife in a composed matter amazed even himself.

"She never even got to do the rite of passage..." Ariel said sadly until Triton finally surfaced close to the shore, making his way to within speaking distance. Sebastian was by his side. He finally came up to them, the couple moving their anxious glances towards him in hopes of good news, only for him to return a drained face.

"I'm sorry," He said. "There's... no sign of her, She's vanished." Ariel and Eric exchanged glances, defeated by what they had heard. Ariel's stare again fell down to their newborn whose future was in jeopardy; who was now crawling towards the water. "We'll keep trying. We'll-."

"Sweetie, no." Ariel interrupted him, pulling her newborn from the wave so she wouldn't drown. "Oh we've got to keep Melody away from her. Until Morgana is found Melody can't go in the sea," She held her breath. "And neither will I."

"Ariel..." Sebastian trailed.

"I'm sorry Sebastian, but if Morgana is anything like Ursula, she'll never give up. This is the only way." She removed her daughter's necklace and gingerly handed it to her father, already regretting what she was about to say. "Melody can't know about merpeople or Atlantica...or even you, Daddy."

"Very well Ariel. You're right." Triton agreed. Ariel cuddled with her husband, accepting what she'd just done; believing it for the better. As Triton began back to the sea he almost gave Sebastian a new order, before Melody and the others surfaced right in front of him.

"Your Majesty!" Melody interrupted. For a second the sight of her grandfather alive and well made her heart jump. She quickly snapped out of it and bowed down to give her greetings. "I have information related to Morgana." The statement made Ariel and Eric snap out of their closed state, and turn their attention to the merfolk.

"What?" Triton asked.

"It's about her location." Triton's eyes widened as Sebastian fell off his rock and into the water.

"We must tell the royal army!" He announced. "Flounder, hold onto this." He handed Melody's necklace to him as he was closest, and began to go back under.

"Wait!" Ariel ran up to the first wave. "What's going on Daddy?"

"Our miracle is here Ariel. But there's no time to talk. Time is of the essence. We'll bring back news as soon as possible." With that the last of their undersea friends left, leaving a trail of hope. The couple in the middle of all of it stood there awhile longer, relieved that their drastic decision may have been averted.

"This area isn't on any of our maps," said a merman swimming alongside Triton's chariot.

"It couldn't be," said their king in a stiff tone. They were several hours from Atlantica, above the surface, in some unknown region never important to history up until now. Fog pervaded the entire area, and along with the fact that it was now sunset, Triton's navigators began to worry if they'd be able to find their way back. Melody didn't worry though; she knew fairly well where they were in relation to home. This mystery maiden was their key, their ticket, to stopping this evil that had pervaded the sea following Melody's birth.

"There it is." Melody pointed out a formation behind the fog, an ice cave of some sort. As the party continued and the entrance made itself clearly visible Melody felt a tremor of guilt go through her. This place held bad memories for her. Horrible memories of guilt.

_But n__ot this time._

"Men, I want half of you outside for support, the rest of you come with me." He turned to single out Melody. "Harmony I want you to wait outside."

"But Your Majesty..."

"We don't know what we're facing yet. And besides, you're our guide." He emphasized her importance as a navigator. "Wait in the chariot."

"All right sir." She sighed, as he left with half of the group.

"Ah it's not dat bad girl." Sebastian consoled her. "Besides who knows what dat witch has in dere?"

_ I would dummy. _She sighed in frustration.

Triton led his forces into the dwelling. As they swam down the main hall that led inside Triton made his way to the front, insisting that he be the first to face the witch. As they kept going a question came up.

"What are we doing above water?" Triton asked one of his men.

"The mermaid said it was the only way she knew," he replied.

_Strange... _Triton thought. "Let's go back to our normal surroundings." They all submerged, seeing much more terrain but remaining clueless.

They proceeded further and further into the bowels of the cave, coming to a much larger room. Silently a black tentacle slithered above their heads, retreating before they could react to the sound.

"You hear something?" One of the Chariot's guards said to the others. Almost as if it was a rhetorical question they did not reply, instead turning to the one corner of the room that seemed to display signs of inhabitance. It almost looked like a bar, and with further inspection Triton found a bunch of empty bottles scattered about. A guard picked one up, reading its label.

"Looks like some kind of spell..." He was thrown across the cave pool by a red explosion from a bottle. They all jumped to defensive positions, looking for the thrower. Their momentary search was topped by an echoing cackle, its source unknown to them.

From a crevice in the ceiling Morgana curled up, watching as they couldn't find her.

_ "I was always a great shot."_

She grabbed another explosive and aimed for Triton's skull, but before she rounded the throw a pair of arms came out of nowhere and yanked her hair, making the explosive hit another region on the ground harmlessly.

Triton brought his eye to the ceiling, suddenly aware of where the bottle had come from.

"Harmony!" He yelled out, seeing the young girl fall backwards in the crevice.

"You!" Morgana exclaimed after she turned, surprised to see the mermaid. Melody stumbled back as she saw Triton charging his weapon out of the corner of her eye. She quickly shot from the crevice.

"Shoot!" She screamed, the nook exploding with Morgana stuck in it. When the rubble finally cleared Triton looked around, to see Morgana was gone.

Peering closer at the crater Triton noticed it led to another area. He swam into it with his men not far behind, ready for the worst.

He looked around to see they were in another area the hole simply connected to. He looked left and right before hearing something nearby.

"It's the last one you fool!" He could hear her voice on the other side of a nearby corner. "I need to get more..." Triton finally took a swim of faith and swung around the corner, shooting a stun shot without aiming.

"No!" Morgana screeched as she threw her last potion, blinding Triton temporarily. He still shot continually, and by luck it struck her lower side.

"Ahhh!" Within moments Triton's men stormed the elbow room, and restrained the witch. One of them brought a cage down on Undertow as her rays swiftly fled the area.

"Cowards!" She screamed after them. "No it can't end like this!" She continued to yell bloody murder, swinging her limbs around at her holders with everything she had. Her tentacles were very strong indeed, each many times stronger than any single one of her legs would be if she had any. But they were not enough, the single soldier knocked off quickly regained his grip and she lost the rest of her strength.

"You'll never get away with this!" She yelped.

"Yeah Triton! Your day is coming!" The tiny shark yelled in defeat. Once he finally regained his vision Triton brought his glare just inches from Morgana's face. He said nothing, but he more than expressed his feelings on the matter in his iron stare.

"I know people Triton. They'll come for me!" She said in a menacing tone.

"Save it for the jurist." He said coldly to this monster that had tried to murder his granddaughter in the prior hours. "By the power granted to me under royal law of Atlantica, You are hereby our prisoner." He turned to address his assemblage. "Let's go men."

They went back the way they came, and resurfaced to meet up with the others.

"Harmony girl you're alright!" Sebastian exclaimed. A guard came forward to address Triton on Harmony's presence in the cave.

"She was very nimble sir."

"Never mind it." The king replied with a foiled stare. He swam back to his seat in his chariot, the guards unloading Morgana and her friend in a caged trailer.

"Let's go home." Triton told them. "We have amends to make with family, and some future arrangements."

"Yes!" Sebastian screamed in a girly high pitched voice. "Mon, we are gonna' have de party of our lives!" He proceeded to not shut up as they rode into the gentle night breeze.

Atop the blue waves that rolled like a quilt in the wind, a brunette surfaced against the milky white moonlight. She wasn't supposed to be here, but she couldn't contain the news. The witch had been caught, and she wanted answers on that wall.

She knew she'd be able to find Ariel that night. She'd heard of the many times her mom would sit by the coast around sunset even before she had a reason not to, just enjoying the breeze and the view. Tonight would be especially likely to repeat the same routine, as Ariel would most likely stay out late for news.

Just as she'd suspected Melody finally spotted out a petite redhead on the sand, alone surprisingly, and curled up as the waves touched her feet every few moments.

She began towards the shore, hardly able to contain her excitement. As she got closer a yellow and blue fish silently surfaced near where she had done the same; presumably in surveillance. He had not seen her since she'd left as Triton would not allow them to tag along and things had been hectic that night after their return.

As Melody got closer and closer she didn't even need to call out her mother's name as Ariel had already taken notice. Once Melody could go no farther without legs she spoke first.

"Ariel, I have good news," She smiled as Ariel's face lit up.

"Is it about Morgana?" She asked.

"Yes. Triton himself went with a party and found her and her minion,"

"Did you... go with them?" Ariel asked, wondering how it all linked to this new mystery maiden.

"Yes," She announced truthfully. What was the harm in admitting she'd helped them capture the fugitive? "I actually led them."

"Thank you, however you did I," Ariel said, her eyes bringing tears of joy. Harmony stayed silent, letting the moment sink in gently. "You have no idea how much you just helped my family." There was another pause. "So...to whom do I owe thanks?"

"Me.." She cleared her throat. "My name's Harmony."

"Thank you, Harmony. You know you seem familiar. Have I seen you before?" Ariel asked in her curious tone. Melody simply denied it.

"No... don't believe so. Probably just the hair style." She said, running her hand through her hair. "I've heard a lot about you though." She felt guilty as though she was lying, even though she technically wasn't. "Gave your voice to be with a human, uniting the land and sea." Ariel laughed a little and then smiled at Melody's knowledge of her past.

"Yeah. We're all lucky things turned out the way they did with Ursula." A darker, awkward tone entered the sentence. "She could be ruling the seas now as we speak had it not been Eric and his blessed timing."

"So... How's Melody doing, by the way?" 'Harmony' asked innocently. She already knew her seventeen year-old self may have had a minor concussion so she figured she might as well know if her infant version was in good health.

"Oh she's fine, she's not even shaken up," Melody nodded in agreement, again in silence.

"You know, there's a party going on in Triton's ballroom your sisters are setting up the day after tomorrow." Melody decided to bring up, to finally hamper that reoccurring silence.

"How wonderful," Ariel was happy her family was getting back to normal.

"Actually Triton and the rest of your folks wanted you to come, with Melody. A lot of this stuff they were going to mention tomorrow but I figured you deserved early news."

"Actually," Ariel said slowly. "Eric and I were probably going to play it safe for a bit, and stay on land for awhile."

"You know Ariel, there's a time to run. But just because you're scared doesn't mean you should avoid the sea." She tried to convene to her mother's unwavering ears. There was some time before Ariel mustered an answer.

"Do you have children?" Ariel asked her. Her response was simple.

"No, but..."

"Then you couldn't possibly understand what it's like," Ariel said protectively, "to have your child in such danger." Ariel even herself knew she was being so overprotective in every word she said, but the very thought of what might have been made her shudder.

_ And you couldn't understand what it's like to be the child. Because you never were one. _Melody could feel the faintest sensation of tears forming at the back of her eyes. Ariel now was still as stubborn as she had been Melody's whole life.

"Thank you for all you've helped with, but it's getting late." Ariel said, unwilling to get into an argument and ruin the news.

"Yeah. Goodnight." Melody turned and began back for a deeper area to dive in. Just before she did Flounder popped up right in front of her, making her nearly jump out of the water.

"Flounder!" She swatted him back, annoyed.

"Did she say anything about the wall?" He asked, both of them already under the sea.

"Oh crap I forgot to ask!" Melody realized. "Well I don't really think she's in the mood to chat with more tonight. Tomorrow when she gets a royal counsel we'll get an answer."

"Well we can hope for the best."

"You know Triton said I could stay in one of the royal guest rooms. I hope he doesn't send me back to Southside; I'd have to explain why I ditched." She giggled.

"He'll probably send you to a royal doctor if you get sick," Flounder said, much to her relief. "Harmony?"

"Yes Flounder?"

"How did you know about Morgana?" His question snapped her mind awake.

"I have sources."

"But the whole kingdom looked for miles. The WHOLEkingdom. That's some twenty five thousand merfolk alone, not counting the fish or anyone else. Then you come along to the grotto, fresh from the hospital, and flat out tell us where she's hiding."

"Like I said, I have sources." She managed. He finally gave up asking, his fatigue tearing at him.

"Good sources." After that they were mostly quiet, staying together until they passed the area where Flounder lived.

"Well, goodnight Harmony," Flounder bid her adieu.

"See ya' round'." She replied. After she saw him disappear she continued to the palace. Tired out, she gladly resigned herself straight to her room for rest.

Just as she was headed for the bed a shimmer that passed her eye caught her attention; she realized it had come from her necklace's reflection in a nearby dresser mirror. While initially wanting to ignore it and go to bed, something drew her to lifting the locket and seeing the source of the light as her name on it.

_That reminds me, I gotta take care of this. _She removed it from her neck. _Hide it somewhere? Eh..._ As her eyes darted back and forth around the room she decided she'd rather not part with it, even if it was only temporary. She looked back at the dresser that had brought this whole thing up again in the first place, and remembered that it had various supplies.

_ I got an idea._

She seated herself down and began rummaging through the lone drawer, only for her hand to catch on the other locket; the one that Triton had flounder hold onto and now she was watching. Just out of curiosity she set it side by side the other one, and opened both.

Suddenly a feeling hit her, not unlike when she had opened 'hers' for the first time, or when she had first seen her mother as a mermaid. It also reminded her of her bitter conversation with Ariel earlier.

_Can I forgive her for what she did? _Melody thought to herself. _I still love mom, but that's always been between us. _

Not wanting to stir up her emotions she closed the lockets and decided to let the thought go, and continued looking for the materials she needed; specifically tape and a pen. She found it, and wrote 'Harmony' onto the tape, before placing it over the name on the oldernecklace.

She placed it over her neck once again, and began putting the small mess she'd made away. At last all that was left was the borrowed necklace. As she reached for it she realized something else; she wasn't doing this just for her late grandfather anymore. Rather, she yearned that somehow she could change the events of those twelve long years.

But it was crazy enough to prevent someone's death, so how could she hope to completely alter the first twelve years of her life?

_Maybe this whole thing's a crock._ She tossed the heirloom into the drawer and closed it.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone. I would like to start this chapter off by going a bit off-topic, and announcing that i passed my road test today. :D

So given my vibrant mood, and the fact that chapter 7 is really dinky, I've decided to give you guys two updates tonight. :)

**Chapter 7**

In a lone decrepit cell sat a sea witch. It was past eleven and the very last of her only visitor was there; a lawyer fish. He was explaining her situation to her.

"On charges of attempted first-degree murder," She was silent to his announcement.

"Evasion of royal police…"

"Oh bah! The party was over anyways."

"Treason…"

"Wait what?"

"Old pleadings," She looked off to the wall, overwhelmed. "There's really not much we can do. You could try pleading not guilty, but then again there's several hundred witnesses that will say the opposite. I'd say the best thing you can do is a plea bargain." His client reared her venomous face right at him.

"And stay in jail?" He nodded slowly in response. A long period in which no one said anything followed.

"Goodnight Dan." She said simply.

"But there are others matters that must be brought up..."

"I said GOODNIGHT." Figuring what was best for him the fish finally gave in, and checked out.

After several minutes of debilitating silence Morgana finally snapped.

"How could they have found us?!" she almost yelled to her cellmate Undertow.

"I don't know! You had the brilliant idea to crash such a royal celebration in the first place I wouldn't be surprised if we were dead by now!"

"We were on top of the world this morning! How could it all fall apart so quickly?"

"And that hideout... I knew it was going to be a flop!"

"It was that little mermaid, the brunette."

"How many potions did you have? Two?!"

"I was never a brewer and you know it sadist!"

"What about that whirlpool you used to get us outta there? We both know very well you couldn't do that yourself. You're hoarding your sister's magic!"

"Shut your hole you stupid shrimp! I can't do that anymore, and if I hadn't we wouldn't be here right now, would we?!"

"I bet Ursula would know what to do." He muttered for the very first time. She silenced her lips and slowly turned to face the small shark. The sheer destructiveness in her eyes made him gulp.

"What did you say?" She spat as he backed away.

"Never mind. Anyways why are we arguing like this? I thought you said we'd be rescued! Those other friends you had!"

Suddenly the toxins in her face drained, almost brightening her skin tone. She then buried herself in her arms.

"So..." He moved to see her expression behind her hands as she quieted, to see that she had begun crying.

"Undertow, you're the last that I have," She sobbed. "There won't be any others." While at first he took her new state as an act, he soon realized she was telling the truth. The cruel, true truth.

He slowly moved his now blank stare to the wall.

Defeated.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Melody awoke that morning her mind was still groggy, and she was disoriented.

_ Gotta go with mom early this morning for exploring. She's been wanting to for so long. May as well finally get to see what it's like... _

Her eyes finally opened, drawing themselves to the window that had caught her attention one too many times since she was twelve. In between the beautifully adorned material that made up not only the windowsill but every pillar in the castle, she could see the rays of the sun just beginning to imbue themselves in the water. She could tell by the degree with which they were visible what time it was.

_ You know Mel, it's still early. A little shuteye couldn't hurt..._

She was awakened by a pouncing crab.

"Harmony! Harmony girl you can't sleep in! Not today at least! Come now, de' gathering is happenin' in less dan a half hour!"

_ There weren't any gatherings today... __Well, c__an't sleep now, __g__otta hear the news on the wall. You know Mel, if this works, it's all a success._

"Harmony girl dis could be an historical day in de history of de land and sea!"She gradually got up not paying attention to him, to realize something peculiar about the room since she'd glanced at the window. It was familiar.

_ Hmm..._

Suddenly something clicked, and she realized this was her room from her time.

_ A royal room for a guest! _Triton must have thought highly of visitors with information on fugitives.

_ Or relatives... But how could he know? Very simple Melody. He doesn't. _

"Harmony!" Sebastian yelped again. She finally stopped drifting and faced him.

"Let's go." She smiled.

Along the beach a rather small assemblage of Eric's subjects (mostly advisers, and other figures of authority) waited as the mercrowd grew. Melody, Flounder, Sebastian and Urchin were there. And at long last, Triton arrived.

"His royal highness, king Triton!" The seahorse announced. Her father approached behind an aisle of guards, levitated magically by the waves beneath him.

"The sea witch has been incarcerated and is pending trial." Everybody there sighed in relief of the news, even those who already knew.

"Excellent news Triton." Eric replied with a new found energy. "This is a major victory on our front."

"Yes my son, but we won't be going with our old plan..." The old king trailed; with eyes that seemed ready to accept their destiny, even if it was bleak.

"No." Ariel interrupted. "If Morgana's locked up then no." Triton smiled out of the implied yet incredibly victorious ruling.

"Yesss…" The group of four all whispered.

"And Ariel we have elected to not cancel a little party that your sisters planned for tomorrow evening. We were even thinking this may have been a chance for Eric to visit Atlantica at long last." His statement made Eric's eyes widen, while his wife was speechless for several seconds.

"We're not sure your highness." Eric said, snapping himself out of it. "It's not because either of us have obligations but given what happened yesterday we were thinking of taking it easy for awhile, even though you were fortunate enough to bring great news."

"Oh yes of course." Triton remarked.

"Will you consider it Ariel?" Arista blurted out. She was shushed by her sisters.

"We'll consider it Arista." Ariel said. Even though that phrase meant no there was a hint of hope in her voice.

"When is it exactly?" Her husband asked.

"Tomorrow night at 5:30." Arista immediately replied.

"We'll have an answer by tomorrow evening." He said, looking deep into his beautiful yet distraught wife's eyes.

"Last minute." Flounder whispered to Melody. She nodded.

Following the hopeful speech they spoke of more important matters, related to state. None as interesting though.

"You think this could mean a full recovery?" Melody asked Flounder.

"I sure hope so though. It's painful enough living in the sea without Ariel. Not being able to visit her would be a nightmare."

_ And vice versa. _Melody thought.

"Hey you wanna come with us?" Urchin asked her.

"What for?"

"Sebastian says too much of the debris in the grotto is beyond repair, so we're gonna go collect new things."

"Go...exploring?" Melody asked. Urchin shrugged.

"Yeah I guess." His question arose two things in Melody; one of regret for telling her mother off in the future, another of pure curiosity, just like when she was still little.

_ Things are looking good with Ariel and Eric. Besides, when will I ever get another opportunity like this?_

"I don't really see why not." She told him.

"Great! We'll head back to Atlantica to grab some carrying bags and then, it's to the ships!" They all seemed confused at what he said. "The sunken ships." He corrected himself, and he dove under as they followed.

"Wait. Harmony, shouldn't you be back at de hospital?" Sebastian asked her as they all came to a stop. He'd figured she'd go back after last night's events, but apparently she had no intention to.

"I can't spend my whole life there Sebastian." Melody giggled, shrugging him off.

"But girl, dey said you had a concussion! You can't just shrug dat off!"

"I feel fine." She said plainly, and genuinely. "And for your information they said it _wasn't_ a concussion, just a bump." A few moments of silence and Sebastian tripping over his own tongue followed.

"Good enough for me!" Urchin said, and all but the crab continued towards the city.

"But girl! We're going to de shark waters! You've got to have your head about you in de shark waters!" Sebastian hurriedly swam after them, realizing Harmony had no intention of returning to Southside.

"Don't worry about the grotto, we've put it back together before." Urchin said to Melody, already forgetting about Sebastian. "It got blown to smithereens about two years ago, but we fixed it."

"Really?" She learned for the first time. She knew all about the time when Triton destroyed everything in there to stagnate Ariel's longing for the human world, but not its predecessor.

"Now that I think about it that grot's been through a lot," He realized, just as they came up to his house. "I'll be back in a minute guys."

"I hope Ariel gets a chance to come back down here and do this again with us someday." Flounder mumbled.

"She's living her dream mon." Sebastian told him. "But still, Good-old times are always wort remembering. Maybe someday Ariel will remember dat." His statement made Melody's stomach churn. "Like dat time we babysat dose twins." He chuckled. "You remember dat Flounder?"

"Yeah I remember." His mood lifted. "You should have seen the lobster mobster's face when that shark went after him."

"I was actually in de palace when dat happened just so I could stall for time, so I didn't see it but still, dose babies were so much trouble mon. And it was all because Ariel wanted to babysit." The crab laughed again. "She still did after we got dem home!"

"What're you guys talking about?" Urchin asked, bags finally in hand.

"Ah nothing. Just all de trouble Ariel always got us into. You know, de good old days."

"Oh do I remember." They all began for the city exit, to see what lay beyond it.

"We've gone through so much wit dat girl I'm amazed we're still here." Sebastian sighed. "Like dat time she got us all out to Eel-ectric City and dat club nearly toppled off de edge of dat cliff wit me and Flounder in it..."

"Or that time she got me turned into a howling hairfish!" Flounder reminisced.

"Or dat time she brought us to dat crazy scientist's lab and he tried to do crab experiments on me." He jeered. "All because she wanted to stop de 'pollution'."

"Ariel did all that?" Melody asked incredulously, stunned by everyone's memories of the red head. Flounder turned to face her personally.

"She sure did."

"But I thought she was overprotective and everything..."

"You didn't know her as a teenager mon." Sebastian smiled. "Da stuff she would pull."

_ Well who would have thought?_

After several more minutes of swimming they finally came upon something.

"This looks like a good candidate." Urchin figured. It was a medium-sized ship, probably chalked full of human objects. As they swam closer to inspect it Sebastian's nerves frittered more and more.

"Oh mon if anyting happens to you harmony... "Sebastian continued to everyone's annoyance. "And who will de king blame? Me, of course, good ole sebastian, everybody's scapegoat." he began to raise his voice.

"Calm down Sebastian." Urchin hushed him. "Harmony says she feels fine."

"I know I know." He sighed heavily. "Promise me girl you'll at least try and be careful." He asked Melody. Figuring it would calm his nerves greatly if she did, as well as shut him up, she agreed.

"So what are we looking for, exactly?" Melody queried as he scanned the wreck for an entrance.

"I dunno. Just stuff that doesn't look like it came from Atlantica. Or anywhere else under the sea, for that matter." After a couple more looks he could see an entryway, and he handed everyone a bag.

"Hey can you actually hold onto this?" Flounder asked Melody, holding up the necklace Triton trusted him to watch. "I forgot to get it back to Ariel when we went up."

"Yeah sure." She placed it in her bag for safe keeping. They all then went single file through the "door" which was really an obscured window. The vessel actually seemed so boxed-in it didn't look like there was any other means to enter.

They all gathered in to find what seemed to be the remains of an entertainment deck.

"So.." Melody shrugged as the others went off almost instinctively, presumably taking after Ariel.

_ I guess I should just grab stuff. _She looked around a section of the deck that no one else seemed to be browsing, to see several items scattered about.

"So Ariel used to get a kick out of this?" She asked them, a mug in hand.

"We all did, really." Flounder admitted. "Going on adventures."

After placing the object in her sack Melody sighed. She was raised a human, and as a result she knew all about these objects. She would have been more interested in a trove of Atlantican debris, although she was similarly versed in knowledge there as well by now.

Seeing nothing else of interest her eye caught on a half-busted door they had not yet looked over.

"Hmm." she poked her upper half into it and glanced around, seeing it led to a staircase to another level. "Hey guys check this out!" They all followed.

Melody herself found several unscathed potteries scattered along the floor. They came from a larger collection, but most of the others were shattered. The intact ones shone a tone of orange and deep blue.

"Hey look at this guys!" Urchin showed them a set of bells. "They're a bunch of ah...dingamajiggers!"

"They're called bells." Melody corrected him.

"But I thought Scuttle..." he trailed. "How would you know anyways?" His question snapped Melody back to reality.

"Oh… I dunno. That's just what I call them." She shrugged with a forced smile.

"Funny name." He said before resuming his search.

_ You're telling me. _A second later Flounder swam into the room with a tobacco pipe in his mouth.

"Anoder snarfblat!" Flounder proudly slurred.

_ It's a pipe. _Melody couldn't keep herself from thinking. Oddly enough she thought what he said sounded better. She helped him with putting the snarfblat in his bag.

"Come to think of it I believe we found one the very last time Ariel went through a ship." The phrase seemed to resound a flow of tepid emotions in the group, and he spoke no further of it.

A minute later when the mood settled Melody realized something. If not the objects and the funky names Scuttle gave them, than the maze itself was entertaining. And it was exciting going deck to deck, looking for a route through the broken walls, and listening to them reminisce.

She was almost too adamant to admit it but this was...fun.

_ Another area clear. _She thought, before she decided to investigate the large gap in the floorboards they'd previously deemed uninteresting.

She peeped her head under it to see there was one final layer in the ship. After some maneuvering she managed to fit her whole body through the gap.

"You know is it just me or is this place actually giving you guys the creeps?" She heard Urchin on the other side of the wood.

"Dis ship ain't scary." Sebastian said. "Ah!"

"Relax Sebastian, it's just a painting." Urchin reminded him. After hearing the conversation settle Melody turned her attention back to the new area, which was darker then she thought.

_ Those guys are silly. _She thought to get rid of the creeps. Suddenly her attention caught on a dim light that had begun to radiate in the distance.

_ I wonder what this is? _She swam closer to the source of light, its brightness growing more and more. As her eyes adjusted she noticed what looked like giant worms all over the truncated room. In all her confusion she finally came face to face with the light, to see it had a pupil.

"Guys." She was almost paralyzed by fear, but quickly snapped out of it as the creature began to react to her presence."Guys." She said again, beginning to back away. "GUYS!" She shot right through the gap.

"What is it?" Sebastian asked.

"GIANT SQUID!"

"Did you hear what dat girl said?" He asked the others until the floor erupted into a very angry container of tentacles. Everyone took off after Melody, through the staircase and then the window.

"Swim Harmony! Swim!" Sebastian screamed to the owner of the tail he was riding. "Watch your head, watch your head!"

After they cleared the ship the side exploded, a giant angry squid taking its place. It began chase.

"Don't look back, just swim!" Melody yelled. They led way for almost a kilometer, until the squid finally gave up.

"I think we lost him!" Flounder realized, out of breath.

"Yeah." Urchin added.

"That was...fun." Melody admitted.

Once they caught their breath they actually continued searching for a bit (although nothing nearly as dramatic as before occurred). They did this until the sun began to set.

"Holy crap it's late." Flounder realized. "Maybe we should start heading back."

With business matters for the day completed, Eric sought a source of relaxation. And the royal library was the perfect answer.

As he passed the doorway he could see Ariel had already beaten him in getting there. She was reading on their couch, with their child beside her in a sea-decorated crib.

She was educating herself, accumulating what was still a meager database of knowledge on humans. It was a hobby of hers, the last thing standing in the way of finally quelling her long-driven curiosity on the subject.

_ They're like merfolk in so many ways..._

_ "_Hello dear." Eric spoke first, getting her attention. "So... Any status on the invitation?" She seemed unprepared for the question.

"The invitation?" She queried.

"Yes, the whole thing your sisters wanted to do." He said, suspecting that she was further putting it off.

"Oh yes," She nodded. "Well I think that we should...well it, I mean..." Eric could tell she didn't have an answer. "I don't know." Ariel admitted. "I mean, Morgana's gone, and I still want melody to have her ceremony, but-" She simply ran out of words, restricted by a reason that seemed nonexistent in of itself. "I don't know what to do Eric."

"It's Mephisto that's still bugging you, isn't it?" Eric told her. She nodded.

"Ever since he kidnapped me and Melody I just...I just can't seem to find tranquility in the things I used to." She admitted sadly.

"Well let's see what we know." Eric pulled the conversation back on track. "Morgana is innocuous, and Ursula doesn't have any other relatives in the area, correct?"

"Right. She might still have some cousins but they live way out in the Pacific, and none of them do black magic."

"And things have been quiet back in Atlantica from what you've heard?"

"Yes. Nothing unusual,"

"And Mephisto's no longer here is he?"

"No…"

"Then there should honestly be no reason to be scared of the sea." Eric reasoned.

"You know they mentioned the possibility of you visiting?" Ariel almost began to change the subject.

"End of my list of priorities." Eric shook his head assertively. "Ariel, you said you can't find safety in the things you used to?"

"Yes," She admitted, obviously ashamed.

"Is that still true for me?" He asked. The whole debacle had nearly led Ariel to abdicating her life on land and returning to the sea, for fear what Mephisto had tricked Eric into saying had been true, that he hated her and her daughter. But in the end, she realized it wasn't.

"No." She said solemnly. It came to her comfort to realize that she had gotten over that at least.

"Then it shouldn't be for your family."

"For a moment

All of me

Is alive and at home in the sea..."

"What're you singing?" Flounder asked, inadvertently stopping her.

"Oh nothing. Just a little song I used to sing when I was little..." She blushed.

"You love the sea, don't you?" He guessed.

"Yeah you bet I do." Deep inside her she wanted to somersault up and down screaming YES, but it would only make her look silly, so she didn't.

They reached the grotto entrance a minute later, and gave each of the new objects a place to rest. Once they were done they sealed the entrance, and began their journey home.

"You know you've been asking so much about us, why don't you tell us about yourself?" Urchin inquired. "Like where you're really from?"

"Oh somewhere... close." She managed. "Yet far away. Another kingdom." She silently scoffed. _It sure felt like another kingdom._

After some more swimming they finally all came into the palace.

"Thanks for letting me join you guys." Melody told them.

"Yeah. I gotta feeling the grotto's here to stay this time." Urchin said.

"We owe you our thanks Harmony. For Morgana, however you did it." Flounder reminded her.

"No problem guys." She smiled.

"You know maybe if that party Ariel's sisters wanted actually goes through we'll see you there." Urchin said.

"Oh yeah, if it's happening I'll definitely be there." she declared firmly.

"And hopefully everyone's favorite redhead can make it. Well I guess we'll see ya." Urchin bid his farewell.

"See ya' guys." She replied.

She watched as her friends silhouettes turned to tiny dots, and then faded. In a way she could never be part of _their_ world, one already full of so much more joy than the one she came from. She was more than grateful for every moment she spent here.

In fact, she almost didn't want to go back.

_ It doesn't have to be that way. If this works out maybe the future will be better. And even if grandfather isn't there- _She sighed. _There's no reason it can't be more like this._

The idea of going back to her past made her last words to her mother resurface in her mind.

_ The second I get back I'll make it up to mom for saying what I did. She only meant well. She probably only ever did. Why can't I just accept that..._

Late that night and still in a hole of her own pity, Morgana still sat there without a word spoken. It would take time to get her talking again. As the sounds of the gate being opened resounded throughout the cell she only barely turned her head to see what was going on.

"You have a visitor." The swordfish guard told her. He led her restrained and alone, without Undertow, into the visitors area. She plopped down, barely capable of raising her head to look through the seaweed fence of a barrier. On the other side sat a rather ominous merman.

"Morgana." He said simply.

"Who are you?" Morgana just barely managed.

"Your fates' due to cross." The mysterious merman said.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N:

I'm terribly sorry to have made you guys wait a whole day for this update, but last tuesday night we had a bad storm in the fox cities and our power was knocked out for several days. :(

Anyways, let's continue the story!

**Chapter 9**

He left.

No name, no information; just that her fate would cross with someone else.

_ What is this a prank? _Morgana kept to herself, unwilling to converse with her cellmate. He was already bombarding her with questions.

"Who saw you? Any why on earth didn't I go with?!"

"I don't know." She said plainly.

"Oh no, no, no! You ain't fooling me again. You think for a second I believe you're not lying?! Everything you said earlier was probably bogus too! You're probably plannin' on escapin' and leaving me!" And he went on and on...

"Look. You don't have to believe me, because I've already told you everything I know and everything I can tell you. I have nothing else to say." He lowered his eyebrows to emphasize his suspicions and waited, expecting for her to break easily.

He waited for ten minutes before finally speaking up.

"For god's sake Morgana, what's going on!?" He was close to having a nervous breakdown.

"If I've told you once I've told you a million times..." She began to raise her voice the closer he got, until they were face to face.

Several moments later both Morgana and Undertow heard the cell door open. Still tremendously en-angered both refused to remove their glares from one another, but their stubbornness was cut short when they both felt a blunt strike to their skulls.

And that was the last thing they remembered.

Morgana was the first to awaken. She immediately groaned and rubbed the sore spot on the top of her head, then proceeded to inspect her new surroundings.

She was bound inside of an enclosed seashell carriage. Suddenly in an almost claustrophobic manner she began to squirm, only to loudly bang her side against the interior. In an attempt to see if she'd scraped any skin she turned and saw Undertow, in a cage and presumably unconscious.

"Under-." She began in an effort to awaken him, only to silence herself when she could just barely make out dialogue on the other side of the carriage wall.

"The bounty he offered is too great to risk their escape," was all she could make out. She took a moment to register the meaning of what she had just heard, then immediately felt a surge of shame overtake her; that she and her friend were mere cargo.

_ Not much worse that prison. _She thought. Before she could attempt to again awaken Undertow all of a sudden the carriage came to a sudden stop, causing her to hit her had harder than she had hit her shoulder.

"Whua duh hre jod hademed..." Undertow trailed in a state of semi-consciousness.

"Undertow listen-." Morgana tried as a door seemed to appear in the wall as a small amount of light shone in, but only a little, revealing a shadowy countryside. A nasty-looking merman entered the space, followed by a swordfish.

"What is the meaning of thi-?" Morgana managed before the merman clamped her mouth shut.

"Can it lady." He growled, extinguishing Morgana's need for an explanation. The merman dragged Morgana and her 6 restrained tentacles from the vehicle, and plopped the sea witch onto the ground beside a mountainous formation, as the swordfish got and emptied the cage that held Undertow right by her. He face planted the ground, awakening him.

"Hey what's the big idea-" He began to consciously form words, before shuddering at the sight of the ugly merman.

"You're to meet your liberator in the cave," The merman said before disappearing behind the other side of the carriage. The swordfish swooped by and dove its nose right through Morgana's restraints, before following the merman. Now free but unanswered, both Morgana and Undertow tried to follow them for answers but it was no use.

"Wait!" Undertow began to yell, but the carriage pulled away so fast he couldn't even hope to catch it. Mere moments later it had disappeared behind the shadowy distance, far beyond their reach. "What are we chopped liver? To rot out here?! To be eaten like sushi?!" Undertow further screamed at the abyss, before proceeding onto some more salty language. After he finally ran out of breath the both of them just sat there, unsure of what to do.

After almost a minute of agonizing silence they both turned to each other, and then turned around to face the cave entrance, and then at each other again.

"Ah ah, oh no Morgana! You ain't getting me to go in there," He began to insist.

"You see anywhere else to go?" She questioned him, and he peered into the vast stretches of nothingness that surrounded them. Suddenly something somewhere began to make a dark cricketing noise, raising his heart rate. He looked about more to hear another creepy sound. Now he was darting his glances all around himself, being terrified and driven insane by the sounds. Another new noise started and he lost it.

"Let's go! Please Morgana, let's go!" he began sobbing. Morgana simply sighed unsympathetically. She took a deep breath and led the way.

She ever so slowly began into the cave's entryway; they both shuddered at the leering blackness that suddenly engulfed them. After seeing a small glowing fish go by Undertow sped into Morgana's arms, screaming.

"Ah Undertow," She laughed. "You were always a spineless little thing."

"Hey for your information, I wasn't little until a day ago!" He retorted. Unwilling to continue the argument, Morgana refrained from a comeback.

Eventually the darkness began receding, and they came could see a large antechamber coming up.

"Ah Morgana you've finally made it! Come on in! We mustn't lurk in doorways." A voice boomed in such a way it nearly gave the both of them a heart attack. They stumbled in to witness a menacing merman come from the back of the room, seemingly materializing. "It's rude. Didn't your mother or Ursula ever tell you of such things?"

"My mother never listened to me." She blatantly admitted. _He's not the one who visited me._

"Or so I've heard." He opened a cabinet in the wall, revealing an ample food supply.

"Would you like something small to eat?" He asked, offering his hospitality. "I have some seahorse sticks as well as fish sticks."

"You bribed them to free us, didn't you?" She blurted, oblivious to his offer.

"Ah I see you catch on rather quickly. Just like your sister."

"Will you stop bringing up Ursula?" She asked defensively.

"Morgana, Morgana..." He leered closer. "You don't understand it, do you?"

"Understand what?" She seriously had no idea what was going on.

"Ursula. She's always been among the best. You're lucky you have-." He paused regrettably, to correct himself. "You _had_ such a competent sibling. Not a bunch of worms like my background."

_ Who is this merman? _She thought. _He's not the one who came to the cell, but he seems familiar._

"The name's Iniquitious if you haven't guessed by now." He said, annoyed that she couldn't recognize him. It was as if he could tell what was on her mind.

_ Now I remember. _She realized. It was Iniquitious, the sorcerer. He'd earned his name from the potions he invented; the most infamous made polyps glow without killing them. Some other spells he made he even passed onto Ursula early in her career. He had been her inspiration and even at the height of her career Ursula's brews only sometimes matched the potency of his; even then that was rare. "Wait, weren't you one of the elite dark magic circle?

"Indeed I was, although I left Atlantica when Ursula was banished and black magic was declared a felony. I never believed such a cold and dispassionate response from mersociety to our art would prevail." He clenched his fist in a fit of reenacted rage, only to unclench it and sigh. He looked off as if to push the experience behind him. "I traveled to other kingdoms, but they all enacted similar laws around the same time and my new list of 'crimes' prevented my legal entrance. I was consequently forced to go into hiding."

"Weren't we all?" She said, sympathizing with him. Technically she had never been exiled nor incriminated until recently, but in the time frame he spoke of she hadn't come anywhere near Atlantica by her own choice due to those policies.

"I was on the run for the more than twenty five years black magic was illegal, every day the risk of being captured standing strong." She'd been exposed to similar treatment for only a day. "They even caught me a few times, but never for long. But nonetheless I was never one for living in a hole. And of course I believed that with Triton's passing Atlantica would stop its policies and return to a pre-modern view on black magic, but when his wretched daughter Attina took power things only got worse for me."

Morgana turned to Undertow, to see he had the same confused both knew very well Triton wasn't dead, and black magic had been outlawed for hardly ten years, not thirty.

"Wait." She interrupted him. "What are you talking about?" In response to her comment he laughed, realizing he had gone too far.

"I'm sorry, I haven't given you an adequate back story." He moved closer to them, making them both uncomfortable. "You see at this very moment I'm not only here, but I'm also at Sharkania." Morgana frowned at his statement.

"You cloned yourself?" She asked.

"No, no, no. Let's see, where should I start...?" He stopped for a second before coming up with a proposition. "Okay. Awhile after Ursula fell, _quite _awhile after, I concocted a potion with the last of my supply, one last gamble, with the intention of returning to the big scene. Listen, this...Harmony, is not who she claims she is." As soon as he mentioned the name her blood began to boil. "You see, twelve years from now Eric and Ariel's newborn will go past the wall, and seek help to learn more of the sea."

"What wall?" She was lost; he'd gone off topic again.

"If you hadn't been found they were going to put up a wall, and they may still. Anyways Melody will find you, but it won't end well for you." He went on to give her a greater-detailed third hand account, which disturbed her as she realized he was talking in the past tense of thing that had yet to come, namely her demise. "Several years even further than that she'll save a wizard fish who will in turn grant her a passage across time. And she will then take the alias of... Harmony."

The statement widened Morgana's eyes.

"And the next chapter of this back story happened just a day ago." He smiled out of nothing, turning to his own devices. "I myself got here about a week ago, waiting and preparing for all this."

"So you made a...time traveling potion." She figured.

"Ah no my dear, if I'd been able to do that I would have chosen a different time slot. No offense, but you're no landmark in history." His words stung her like blades against bare flesh. "My potion was supposed to duplicate, with limitations unfortunately, the effects of white magic. I originally intended to smelt an imitation of the trident that utilized some of its magic I deliberated to capture, however events unfolded differently than I expected when a seaquake took my home, and almost me with it."

"Wait a minute." She realized something. "You mean to say that you waited until _after _I was thrown in jail to meet up?!" She realized in a fury.

"Touché dear. You were but in hiding, do you not remember?" That was technically true. "Besides Triton never allowed word of your whereabouts outside the royal families. I couldn't find you if I had every sea creature on the planet searching." He laughed at the idea. "Besides, with everything having played out the way it did I think this will all work out easier."

"What will work out?" She asked.

"You are going to help me cook up some spells to finish what you started yesterday." He grinned menacingly.

"If you're the great Iniquitious then why can't you keep making spells?" She figured. "Why was that one your last?"

"My potions always relied on a special ingredient, one that made them superior to all others, one that is more expeditious than sea creatures alone. I can't even go near traditional black magic anymore because of how ineffective it is. Anyways I think you might remember the hugely illegal substance Acheronic."

The vague concept etched at the back of her head, but only sparingly.

"It's is extremely rare, even more so in its crystal form, which is what I'm after. But there's a mint of it under the Great Farside Caves, the ones you're standing in right now." Suddenly she realized where they were, almost an exotic location. "Just before the ring faded Triton himself had the supply sealed, and only the trident can break that cursed seal." A vein began to bulge on his forehead. Suddenly he seemed to collect himself, and he leaned further into the light, emphasizing a scar on his face. Morgana tried her damnedest to not draw her eyes to it. "Trust me, I've tried. And in that future there's no getting past Attina's security."

"I can't imagine." She commented.

"Anyways there is a party going on tomorrow night in the royal ballroom as you probably heard. Everyone will have their guard down since they all think you're behind bars. We are going to disguise ourselves and poison Triton, attain the trident, kidnap the others that have wronged us, and make our way back here to reopen the mines."

"Sounds nice." Undertow suddenly spoke up, already assuming Morgana was okay with the plan. "Then I'll get to be big again..." He drooled at the idea.

"So in addition to seeking the all-powerful trident we would have a vast supply of Acheronian crystals." In Morgana's eyes the trident was the treasure of this hemisphere; but in Iniquitious's eye the crystals were far more valuable. "And of course we avenge Ursula by making those most responsible into polyps." A grin so evil spread across his face that even Morgana herself shuddered at the sight of it. "You have a second chance Morgana. To rise up and overthrow these tyrants."

"Why do you need me?" She questioned.

"You have a knack for being able to crash parties with ease." He grinned and then moved his demeanor to a more serious one. "You just have trouble getting away. Besides you know the layout of the ballroom, and I'm confident in your disguise spells." For the first time in their conversation he complemented her. "Think about it. I'm offering you to become queen of the seven seas...as a partner."

"And if I refuse?" She questioned him.

"I do believe there's a very nice cell waiting for you back at the palace, or you could take your chances in the wilderness of course." She hesitated for a moment, too evil to turn down this offer and too sane to want to go back. He took her silence as a yes. "Excellent. Now we must be well-versed on a plan to crash this little party..."

"So I come into the ball..."

"Oh no, no, no," He laughed at her, amused by her ignorance. "You won't actually be crashing the party this time."

"I thought you said that was my expertise." She retorted, holding back her angst.

"Yes but you are a fresh convict, not to mention you have too many extremities to simply blend in." He pointed to her lower half. "You'll first be subduing any... _interruptions_." He looked to his mystical sphere, Melody's projection shone on it.

_ No doubt she'll cause trouble. _Morgana thought. Suddenly her mind caught on the idea of time travel again; and she thought of something that could solve all their problems.

"Why don't we just kill the girl while she's still little?" Morgana questioned, feeling so wronged by the girl she was willing to go to that extreme. "She's all that stands in our way." For a second he seemed to consider her idea, but ultimately rejected it.

"No. That's not why I came back here." He dismissed her idea. "Besides it would cause too many problems. Just tie her up before the party. Anyways, back on topic. I will actually go to the party and poison Triton. A gamble it will be though, as disguise potions have a habit of malfunctioning on me."

"Triton knows your face?" She asked him.

"No, I'm just one of the most wanted fugitives under the sea. Why would he remember that?" He hissed with sarcasm. "After the trident is in my hands, _then _you come in and help capture our victims, those most directly responsible for our pains. You will also be guarding them, of course."

"Who exactly would that include?" Iniquitious's face lit up, as if he'd waited his entire life to name off these merfolk.

"Triton for everything he's done, his wretched daughter Ariel for dragging Ursula down, as well as her eldest sister Attina, for what she will do in her father's legacy."

"What about Melody?" She questioned plainly.

"She never damaged the black magic community." He said back.

"According to you she damaged me." Again Iniquitious hesitated to answer.

"No, I told you that's not why I came back. Besides, do you honestly think you can handle that many prisoners?" He insulted her. Deep down inside she fought tearing.

"One question." She asked him, concealing her true emotions. "Are you sure Ariel will come to the party?" He brought back his sinister smile in response.

"Melody's presence has already changed things in her; I think you'll find Ariel to be more homesick than you think."

A/N:

I tried to do a number of interesting things in this chapter. Obviously I told Iniquitious' back story, but I also attempted to further Morgana's character development. For instance, we can again see here the whole idea that she's insecure, and that she indeed has feelings. Also in Iniquitious' little ploy we can get the message that Morgana doesn't really have a choice, and in a sense he is using her (to get his vengeance on Triton's family). And of course we get to hear more of Undertow's hilarious dialogue. XD

And of course R&R if you like what you see here. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Another chapter guys. :)

**Chapter 10**

_You know you shouldn't be doing this Flounder. _He told himself. He had knocked on Harmony's door nonstop for the last ten minutes with no response; she was quite a sound sleeper.

He was trying to ask her to get the locket back to him as she still had it, and Triton had asked for it last night and was distressed by the fact that Flounder couldn't produce it. He did not want to trouble Triton, and that's why he was here. However since the mermaid could not be awakened he decided to resort to entering his own way.

The window.

He'd seen windows on human castles and they were the pretty much the same as those in Atlantica except that humans usually kept them closed. Apparently things didn't work as harmoniously as they did down here, with nothing much to keep out.

_ Except for now of course._

Getting outside of the building was not that difficult, however finding the right window was a bit of a challenge. They were all the same, so he had to scan their contents. After some searching he finally found Harmony's.

He took a deep breath and swam in.

_ Now where would she put it... _He wondered. He just managed a brief glance around himself when Harmony began to stir. He quickly hid adjacently to the bed.

"Why did mom have to build that stupid wall? I hate that thing..."

_ What? _Flounder thought to himself after he panicked.

"It doesn't solve anything!"

_ What is she talking about... _He thought to himself as he left the hiding stance, only to bump into a decoration on the dresser. It hit the ground in a noisy bang that awoke Melody.

"Uhhh..." She opened her eyes, puzzled to see Flounder freaking out.

"Uh... Hi Harmony!" Flounder managed, desperately digging for an excuse.

"How'd you get in?" Melody rubbed her eyes. She was never an early riser, and it was quite apparent. Flounder's grin simply magnified in response.

"Uh... the king let me in." He hoped she'd buy it. "Anyways, Ariel is gonna tell us if she can come to the party tonight, and I figured you'd wanna hear. So I wanted to make sure you woke up early enough and all..."

"Okay..." Melody said slowly, confused as to why he was acting so weird. "When is this?"

"Actually like twenty minutes."

_ I sleep in too much. _Melody thought to herself. _I better not tomorrow. _

She shuddered at the idea.

"Harmony once we get there why don't we actually keep our distance."

"Why?" Melody asked.

"Well it's a big decision she's making, we should give her some space." Flounder argued. After a couple seconds of inevitable thinking Melody sighed.

"Sure." she agreed. Little did she know Flounder had asked this because he'd forgotten the necklace again.

They surfaced a good 50 feet from the shoreline. This time there were only 3 people there; Triton, Ariel, and Eric. With a second glance Melody could see herself in a carrier. Although they couldn't really hear what was said, Their overall expressions and the fact that Ariel nodded lifted their hopes.

"I wonder what they're saying?" Melody told Flounder.

"Me too."

At the shoreline...

"I'll meet you at the surface Ariel. Me and our daughter." Eric looked into her eyes, reassuring her that everything would be fine with the compromise. She gave one final sigh of relief, and parted from her husband to kiss Melody on the forehead.

"Stay out of trouble you hear?" Her daughter's response was a simple giggle. "That's what I thought." She finally turned to face the waves where her father was waiting. She stepped forward to the edge of the sand with her arms stretched out and her eyes closed, ready.

Triton slanted his grip ever so fluidly it seemed as if the trident was a part of him. The end glowed of a brilliant aureate, releasing a stream that brushed Ariel. It lifted her several feet, and began a transformation that was almost the opposite of painful.

As she felt her two lower extremities meld into one her beautiful red hair garnered a natural rhythm to it, almost as if it was already home in the sea. After several more seconds the stream stopped and she looked down to see her seashells and green tail again. With a smile, Ariel dove into the water.

"She's going!" Flounder exclaimed.

Something in Melody's heart lit up. Not two days ago this woman was willing to okay a blockade, now she wanted to come home. _This little mermaid's efforts may have paid off._

Just before Flounder dove under Melody stopped him.

"Let's keep this perfect, we'll meet her at the palace." She suggested before he promptly agreed.

Back at the castle where Ariel's sisters still resided they sat waiting for a familiar face in a small lobby. Suddenly a small knock was heard on the door. Every one hushed in anticipation of their visitor.

The seashell door gently opened, with Ariel floating in the doorway.

"Ariel!" Andrina was the first to hug their sister. She was followed by the others.

"You made it!" Aquata hugged her as well.

"Hey Ariel." said Arista. Attina, Alana, and Adella followed.

"Its great to see you guys again, especially here." She said. "It's been so long. So...any new relationships?"

"Nah." Adella sighed. "Aquata has a new boyfriend, but that's it. Nothing too different."

"Who'd have guessed you'd be the first to marry, Ariel?" Attina asked her.

"No one I guess." She giggled.

"Ariel you know you've fallen way off on all the undersea fashions." Her sister Alana lectured her, taking her to a mirror in the room and nitpicking over her hair.

"You know I'm married now." she retorted. "Plus I live on the surface..."

"Still, that doesn't mean you have to come down looking like something from last century!" She continued nitpicking.

"It's only been like a year. Besides I always wear my hair down."

"Well things are changing fast nowadays..."

"Give her a break she just got back!" Arista told Alana. "You should be giving us single girls that advice anyways."

"All right, all right. I was just trying to keep Ariel looking her best, especially for this party." Alana stated defensively.

"I think I can manage." Ariel told her. She looked into the mirror in front of her, to notice Harmony was just outside the doorway.

"You made it." She said to her mother.

"Harmony." Ariel greeted her daughter unknowingly with a smile. "You know I have a lot to thank you for." Just behind Melody Flounder waved.

"Flounder!" She hugged her old friend.

"It nice that you're coming back." Melody told her. "But so Eric couldn't make it?" Melody inquired, curious if she could push her luck to see such a thing. "Or Melody?"

"They're gonna meet us at the surface for an after party."

"Oh nice."

"You know you should have that passage done for Melody already." Attina mentioned. "Even if she won't be down here often, it's still in her heritage."

"All in good time Attina. I'm sure Melody will come to Atlantica soon enough."

"It's been a blessing talking to you Ariel, but we still have to get some things ready for the party." Aquata finally remembered.

"I guess I'll see you guys there?"

"You betcha'!" Andrina cheered. Melody noticed that within probably less than 20 seconds everyone had departed the area, except for Attina.

"Attina?" Melody asked her.

"Yes Harmony?" She replied with a smile, preparing to leave herself.

"I still have to get ready too but...so why do you think your sister wanted to put up that wall?" Melody asked Attina.

"She had her reasons."

"Like what?"

"Well namely to protect Melody-"

"But she's lived most of her life down here." She interrupted her. "If anything's dangerous it's the human world."

"Harmony, do you know how Ariel got her life on land?" Melody recalled the tales she heard since she was a preteen.

"I've heard the basic story."

"Then you know what Ursula did." Attina's tone turned more serious. "She single-handedly tricked Ariel into becoming her prisoner, then extorted Triton to take her place. Then she turned on every promise she made to him, and she would have killed everyone here if not for Eric's timing. It's probably because of that that Triton let Ariel be with Eric, and he trusts humans now. But if anything came even remotely close to Ursula in deception and power, _especially _a relative with a thirst for vengeance..." She shook her head at the idea. "It'd just be too dangerous."

"But it was still such a stupid idea that would have done more harm than good!" Melody said, driven by her knowledge of Triton's fate.

"Listen Harmony." Attina sighed. "Sometimes we have to do things we hate, sometimes even things that make us miserable. But we have to do them, for the greater good." She told her. "Or all else is lost. It's what good leadership is." Melody sighed at her argument. "Why are you still talking about this anyways? I thought it was called off. Heck it wasn't even technically called on!"

"I dunno. It keeps bugging me I guess." Melody said. It was tough, trying to argue her point when it seemed irrelevant to everyone and she couldn't even explain her reasons.

It made her feel so... helpless.

"Well either way we're all together again. That's all that matters." Attina said.

"Agreed." Ariel stated. The sudden reappearance of her voice made them both nearly jump. She was right in the doorway again, she must have come back and overheard them.

"Ariel I'm sorry I didn't know you were still here." Melody began to apologize.

"No." Her statement confused them both. "To be perfectly honest I think I agree with you, Harmony. It was a stupid idea. The only reason I even considered it is probably because of that nasty magician Mephisto." She almost quivered, but this time she was strong.

"What about Ursula?" Attina asked.

"Her too, but Mephisto really tormented us. He nearly destroyed my family, and I feared Morgana would do the same." She began to shake her head. "But just because of that fear doesn't mean I should cut off my family." Melody couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I can't believe I even considered that idea to be perfectly honest." Ariel began to chuckle. "I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Thank you Harmony, for helping me realize that."

"You're welcome." She replied, still surprised.

"All right, well I really do have to get going, I'll see you guys at the party." Ariel announced.

"See you there Ariel!" Flounder bade his farewell. A few seconds after Atlantica's beloved guest left Melody got ready to leave as well.

"I guess I'll see you at the party Attina."

"See you there Harmony." After Melody and Flounder both left they happened to bump into Triton a minute later, just along their route.

"Oh, your highness." Melody greeted him, and they both bowed. Triton chuckled lightly at their formal nature, given the fact that he now considered them both good friends.

"Hello Harmony, Flounder. Were you en route to the party? They're almost finished with the decorations..."

"I just had to do some last minute touch-ups." Melody replied.

"Well I wanted to say thanks, for all your help. We are all in your debt." There was a moment of peaceful silence.

"It's the least I could do for my friends in Atlantica."

"So how long did you plan on staying?" He asked, probably to suggest some other activities she could attend. The question caught her off guard.

"Oh I actually had to begin back home tomorrow." Flounder and Triton both looked shocked.

"Oh." Triton said, surprised. "Well I do hope you enjoy the party, and your stay here in Atlantica."

"It's been a blast the whole time." She professed. "Well I gotta get going, I'll see you at the party your majesty."

"Likewise Harmony." They both parted and continued in lieu of preparations.

"You have to leave tomorrow?" Flounder asked her.

"Yeah."

"That sucks."

"Yeah I agree. I really had a lot of fun here." She sighed. "So what time is it, anyways?" She asked him.

"Like 5 something."

"Oh jeez." Melody realized how late it was. "Doesn't the party start at half after 5?"

"Oh yeah."

"What time did you wake me up?

"Like 4:30 I think."

"Jeez this is all so last minute. Well I think I can go like this." She turned to a mirror on the wall, and quickly ran her fingers through her hair.

"You look great." Flounder complemented her. She blushed.

"Thanks. You know this whole party sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun." She said to him. "There's gonna be music and games and food...maybe even a chance to sing. Plus we'll get to see Eric and Melody again." After mentioning Ariel's daughter Flounder remembered the locket.

"Oh I just remembered something." Flounder told her. "I kinda need that locket back..."

"Oh yes!" Melody remembered. "I was going to get it back to you this morning but it slipped my mind."

_Mine too. _

"Think we got time?" Melody asked him.

"The palace is big, but if we hurry it should take just a minute." He figured. They changed their direction and headed for the residential side of the castle.

_ Boy you got it all girl. _Melody thought to herself. _Morgana's stopped. The stupid wall is erased. Grandfather's future looks great and Ariel is thanking me for everything. It looks like mission success._

Once they finally came to her room Melody went over to the dresser where she had stored it, while Flounder noticed something on another table.

"Hey Harmony." He called to her.

"Yeah?" She swam towards him, forgetting about the locket.

"There's an envelope with your name on it." He handed it to her.

"Huh. There's no sender or anything."

"Why don't you open it?" He asked. She broke the seal, and pulled out a single small sheet.

"'I've come back as well.'" She read. "'And I have friends.' What on earth...?" She flipped the note to see an empty backside. She then lifted the envelope to inspect it again, just as a photo fell out. In the picture she saw someone familiar. She turned the photo over, to see the name _Iniquitious _signed on it.

"Iniquitious..." She read before the name clicked. Once they both realized who it was a chill went down their spines.

"I thought he was in jail in Sharkania..." Flounder figured to her. She was now looking ahead aimlessly, piecing it all together.

"He is."

"But the note says he's come back!"

"That's because he has." She tried her damnedest to not realize his age in the photo, but it was too surreal. She began panicking, then set everything down. _He must have followed me through._ She turned to her friend of the future and past. "Flounder, what have I done?"


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everybody. :) It's Friday again and we all know that means another update (unless there's another power outage of course XD); and we're finally reaching the big ending that ties everything together.

As always, R&R if you like what you see and you wanna give me input. :)

**Chapter 11**

She let her head slump down, on the verge of tears because of what was happening. Almost in an instant she shoved them right back, realizing that her family needed her now more than ever.

"We gotta go back and warn the others!" Flounder yelped, swimming towards the door. He stopped just outside. "Come on!"

"Wait." She stalled swimming in a frenzy to finally get the locket back. Before she could open it her eye caught on the discolored water outside her window. The deep black, almost violet tone seemed to hypnotize her.

_ That's not normal... _Suddenlysomething clicked at the back of her mind and she identified it as sea witch ink.

"Flounder swim!" She took off after him, only to have the seashell door slam shut just inches from her forehead.

"Harmony!" Flounder pounded to open the door, only to see it begin to glow a dark purple, unwilling to open.

"Flounder?" Melody asked nervously as she too noticed the glow.

She felt a tentacle clamp down on her throat.

"Melody dear, how nice of us to meet again." Morgana said behind her monstrously large smile, cackling away.

"Let me go!" She screamed. _Why are these blasted tentacles so strong?! _In response to her volume the slimy witch covered her mouth.

"Harmony!" Flounder screamed again aimlessly, hearing the witch's voice.

"As you probably know Iniquitious is back, and he was kind enough to bust me out. It also so happens that he is ready to enact revenge on your wretched family. He also told me of some very_ nasty _things that you did to me in the future, and quite honestly I think it's time for some payback." She snarled with her wicked grin. "Maiming you would be fun, but I think having half your family abducted and not being able to do a thing about it would be much better."

Right after her little informative speech she proceeded to tie Melody down and gag her, for safekeeping.

"No one's in the palace, so therefore no one can hear you. Sweet dreams." Morgana smiled then laughed heinously, proceeding to crawl out the window. Melody sat there helplessly, watching the water turn back to normal. Too weak to fight off all the oppressions she finally gave in, and began tearing.

About thirty seconds later a familiar fish swam in through the window, one of yellow and blue.

"Founfer?" She asked under the wrap.

"That purple crap isn't on the window." He began untying her, even surprising himself at his speed. _Now I don't feel so bad for sneaking in earlier._

"We have to go. Now." She said. "Morgana's loose."

"I heard." He said plainly. She hoped he hadn't heard too much. "Why did you say it was your fault?" He asked just before she cleared the windowsill. She stopped.

_ Should I tell him? _She asked herself. _My world's already falling apart anyways. What's it matter if he thinks I'm crazy? _She swam to the dresser where she had stored the locket, and finally retrieved it.

"Harmony." He continued, not even looking at the locket once she found it. She handed it to him, then peeled the tape on her necklace off and held it up.

"I don't get it." He said, not paying attention.

"Look at the names." She finally got him to listen, and he saw 'Melody' was inscribed on the front of both. "Open yours." she instructed him, timing it just right as to open hers at the same instant. The identical animations floated in the air.

"But you can't duplicate these kinds of things..." He trailed, as she unwaveringly held the same serious look.

Aside from their identical nature he noticed the one Melody wore had some small scratches on it, naturally displaying its age. They were modest as it was extremely well kept, but nonetheless there were signs of aging.

Suddenly he understood her message. It was crazy, but it explained a lot. What little pieces he'd heard Morgana say, how she knew where to find the witch, why she was acting so strangely, pretty much everything that had happened in the last 2 days really.

He flouted there for a few seconds, bobbing up and down naturally in his environment. He was speechless. He looked at the lockets again, the beautiful view of Atlantica convincing him. He turned to face Melody, just as she slowly did the same.

"He said he followed me. Followed. As in he wouldn't be here if I didn't come." She said, nearing tears. Before she broke Flounder said something that snapped her out of it.

"Come on Melody. We have a witch to stop."

"Ariel you made it!" Urchin exclaimed at the sight of his friend. Ariel greeted him with a hug.

"And I'm happy I did." She replied.

"So where's Eric and Melody?" He asked.

"Oh we're gonna meet them after at the surface."

"Cool." He smiled. "You know we've all missed you Ariel. Sebastian, Flounder, Gabriela... the whole bunch."

"I've missed you guys too... It's just been so hectic over the last year."

"You know we still visit the grotto all the time."

"Really?" Ariel said, reminded of her former trinkets. "Is there...a whole lot left?" Her question made Urchin chuckle.

"We've added things to it. We actually go out exploring still." He waited a moment for Ariel's response, which in turn was silence. "It reminds us of the good old days."

"Well I do hope to come back again quite soon, and visit all the time. Hopefully with Eric and Melody next time."

"You know you'll always be welcome here." Urchin reminded her.

"And I'll always be happy to see you guys again." After the touching words were exchanged they spoke about the party.

"Hey you know they have some very nice food and drinks here." Urchin reminded her.

"Nice, I'll probably grab some. So I guess I'll see you around at the party Urchin. It's been nice seeing you again."

"Likewise. See ya' Ariel."

As Ariel turned and went for a drink she passed an ominous merman to her left. He had a small scar on his face, almost familiar to her. A moment later she glanced at him again, to see there was no dismissed the sight as her eyes readjusting to the water, but a few seconds later her thoughts fell onto it again. She didn't know why but that merman gave her an uneasy feeling, almost as if something could go wrong soon.

She suddenly snapped her mind from the deeper negative thoughts, and remembered something else. She swam to her father.

"Daddy?"

"Oh, yes Ariel?

"Do you have Melody's locket, by chance?"

"Flounder does, dear. I was just about to speak to him about it. In fact I saw him just a minute ago..."

"It was a very precious gift, I'm sure Melody will treasure it," The idea warmed her heart.

"Has Harmony gotten here yet?" Triton asked, determined to return the necklace to her.

"I don't think so."

"Because I'm pretty sure she'd be with Flounder." The king rubbed his chin, thinking. Just that moment the song changed to a funkier tune.

"Ariel you can't miss this dance!" Aquata interrupted them, pulling on her sister's arm.

"I'll have Sebastian go get her," Triton told her.

"All right!" Ariel said before jumping into the beat. Triton scanned the crowd for the royal court composer.

"Sebastian!" Triton called when he finally saw him.

"Keep it goin' guys!" The crab instructed his band, and he went to the king. "Yes, your majesty?" He asked.

"Have you seen Harmony?"

"No sire, I have not," The crab's expression was that of befuddlement.

"She did say she was coming?"

"Of course, she told me herself maybe an hour ago. Now dat you mention it I don't know why she hasn't arrived yet..."

"Why don't you go get her?" He asked. Sebastian froze.

"Go get her, sire-"

"Yes."

"Me? But de royal band needs a coordinator..." The king's iron stare finished convincing the crab.

"They seem to play just fine by themselves. Besides we owe it to our guest, especially if she's leaving so soon." he reasoned.

"Well dey're on repeat... wait what?"

"Harmony leaves for her native kingdom tomorrow.

"Really?"

"Yes. So this is our last opportunity for hospitality..." He hinted.

"Very well your majesty." Sebastian agreed. "I'll go fetch de girl." He hurried off.

"Something's not right." Melody said, realizing something.

"Well another sea witch is terrorizing us and I almost couldn't save you and your whole family's in trouble and-."

"Flounder," She interrupted him with a solemn expression. He snapped out of it, giving her audience. "I heard that way she threatened me. No one that serious, especially someone working with Iniquitious, would leave even a tiny loophole for an escape."

"You sure?" He asked.

"She must have... _wanted_ me to get out of there. She said she'd get revenge by tying me up, but then why didn't she seal the window?"

"Hey look, it's Sebastian!" Flounder pointed out the familiar red dot on the ground in the distance.

"We're gonna need all the help we can get," Melody added.

"Now where on earth could dat girl be?" Sebastian said to himself as he strode along the castle grounds, having taken a shortcut back from Melody's room, hence he'd missed her. "I told her to watch her head, she's probably forgetting things now-."

He cut his pointless banter once Melody and Flounder caught his eyesight. "Oh, Harmony! Flounder! De king sent me to bring you to your senses! De party's goin' on right now and you wouldn't wanna miss it for your life-." He squeaked as he was ripped from the floor by Melody's hand.

"Morgana's loose as she's teamed up with Iniquitious!" Flounder filled him in.

"What?" He asked, confused by the sheer speed at which they were going.

"No time for words," Melody told him. They were close, just another thirty seconds and they would reach Morgana's targets.

Hopefully in time.

_ That buffooning crab is gone, now's my chance. _Iniquitious saw, and made his way to the king with an inconspicuous glass.

"Your highness." He bowed down, secretly sick to his stomach. "I'm Mark, with the snacks committee. I must absolutely insist that you try our newest drink." He said behind one of the most convincing faces ever lied.

"Your newest drink?" Triton asked.

"Yes, it is one of the finer juices, imported from Olympia." He handed Triton the glass.

"I actually don't drink." Triton replied. "Do I know you?" The king asked him, changing the subject and fraying Iniquitious's nerves.

"No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure." He managed sarcastically. "Anyways it is non-alcoholic, your highness. A type of exotic juice."

"Well I'm not actually thirsty." He began to hand back the glass.

"Please sire, it would give great due to the diligent mixers who have prepared it. They were expecting an opinion from you." Finally deciding to be polite to this guest Triton shrugged and raised the glass. Just as he began to sip the potion he could see Melody swimming into the ballroom.

_ Cursed Melody._ Iniquitious thought to himself. He could only hope now that she would be too late.

"Triton! Don't drink it!" She called out at the top of her lungs, still barely audible to him. Her warning had come too late. Although barely a drop had touched his lip it was still strong enough to knock him out. He keeled over, grunting. "No!"

Iniquitious finally saw what he had been waiting for his whole life, and smashed a potion onto the ground. His altered appearance ceased, and Morgana materialized in the middle of the room in a flash of smoke, along with her all-too familiar cackle.

"Iniquitious." Escaped Ariel's lips as she took notice to what had just happened, fear taking hold of her body and paralyzing her. The black magic merman who had gone into hiding around the time Ursula was banished, was back. As everyone else began to panic Iniquitious produced another potion and hit Melody dead-on. She fell limp onto the ground.

"Harmony!" Ariel called out, as the chaos engulfed her. Iniquitious brought his eye to her as she did this, and then they both looked to the trident. Iniquitious lunged for it.

So did Ariel.

She had one hand on it just before Iniquitious managed twice as well.

"I haven't come this far just to let some cursed red head or her foolish friends stop me!" He bellowed, before forcing Ariel off only to land hard on the ground. A small cut opened up on her left cheek.

"Yes..." He observed his new key, the normal aureate glow now an insidious green haze. Ariel began after him again in one final attempt to wrestle the trident back, before Morgana swiftly restrained her.

"You won't be interfering this time, Ariel." she smiled, as Ariel was muted beneath the tentacles.

"I believe there is one more to collect." Iniquitious called out to his partner, as he waited by Triton's unconscious body.

"Ah yes." Morgana said in a disgustingly sweet tone. She instead turned to face the crowd to Ariel's surprise, and began to tap her lip. "Now where could she be..." Suddenly she spotted out Triton's eldest.

"If it's me you want then I will go willingly, if you will let everyone else go." Attina stated firmly, willing to sacrifice herself.

"Attina no!" Ariel tried yelling behind her gag as Morgana momentarily loosened her grip. Her sister still allowed herself to be restrained.

"Follow us." Attina whispered to Alana just before she was taken, knowing that Alana would command the royal troops since she was the next oldest.

"Now grab this one and let's go." Iniquitious asked Morgana, finally pointing to Triton. She made her way to them both and picked him up, and instead of an exit they went through one of the many gaps in the pillars in the wall. Iniquitious shot a bolt downwards, his was rewarded with a full-sized Undertow waiting with a chariot attached.

Just his sheer length made the conscious prisoners shudder. The rows and rows of fangs didn't help either.

"The key is yours." She mentioned.

"Ah yes Morgana after we have finished torturing them I _will _have the most precious seeds for my new garden!" Just after he said this Undertow began swimming and they disappeared, cloaked by the trident. There was an eery silence amongst the crowd for a bit, before they all erupted into chaos.

"I leave for one second and dis is what happens..." Sebastian began to sulk.

"Melody! Melody!" Flounder yelled to wake her. She was just beginning to come to.

"Uh..." Melody rubbed her aching forehead. Once she fully reclaimed consciousness she leaned up, to find herself in a ballroom of chaos.

"Melody they-."

"Dey kidnapped de king and Ariel and Attina!" Sebastian cried hysterically. "Oh mon dis could be de end..."

"Wait what?" Melody asked, still disoriented.

"After Iniquitious knocked you out he and Morgana left with the trident and the 2 girls." Flounder filled her in.

"Oh my god." Melody began to recall what had happened, and that she had come too late to warn them. And now it may have cost them everything.

"The merman cloaked himself and the shark, we couldn't follow them." She heard a nearby soldier informing Alana.

"No..." Alana began to panic, before just barely containing herself and speaking to another official.

"We can't follow them?" Melody asked Flounder.

"I guess not."

"Well there's gotta be something!" She raised her voice. "Sebastian!" She shouted to try and snap him out of his hysteria. He froze. "Did Iniquitious say anything before he left?"

"I dunno...he mentioned sumting about a new garden." Sebastian faintly recalled. "And Morgana said sumting about a key..."

_ A key... _Melody thought to herself. Somewhere deep in her mind the word seemed to form a connection, but she couldn't quite figure it out.

"De trident! Tink of everyting de can do wit dat instrument..." Sebastian continued to pout. "De destruction..." Suddenly Melody realized it.

"The Farside caves." Flounder and Sebastian paused for a second, to try and register what Melody had just said.

"Isn't that the one with the doomsday crystals?" Flounder asked.

"Yeah." _Now I'm happy I paid attention in history class. _She thought to herself. "Iniquitious and Morgana stole the trident so that they can get Acheron crystals." The mention of the word made Sebastian jump.

"Oh dat's bad stuff, mon. Even Ursula herself didn't use none of dat." As he said this Melody had already begun swimming off to the exit.

"I have to fix this." She said to herself out loud.

"Harmony!" Sebastian called, then followed her along with Flounder. "You can't just go to dos caves. You don't even know if it's a good lead!"

"I can do whatever I want." Melody defiantly shot back before brushing him out of the way.

"But you'll get yourself killed! At least bring along some help!" But he was too late. She had made up her mind, and was already gone.

Finally making himself useful Sebastian concocted a quick plan. "Flounder, follow dat girl. I'll assemble a division wit Alana and follow you guys."

"Way ahead of ya', Sebastian!" Flounder replied, already swimming incredibly fast to catch up with stopped and looked upwards for a seconds, another idea populating his mind.

"Eric and his ship are probably circling above right now. De Farside caves aren't all underwater. Best get all de help we can!" And with that he swam as fast as he could to speak with Alana.

"Melody!" Flounder called to his new friend as soon as he was sure no one else could hear. The call worked quite well and Melody slowed for him to catch up.

"Flounder,"

"Sebastian's gonna follow us once he's got a bunch of soldiers together," He waited a second to try and get melody to make sense of the situation. "Melody,"

"What?"

"What're we do when we get there?" She opened her mouth to generate a response, but nothing came.

"I...I honestly don't know." She admitted. "I guess we'll just have to hope surprise is on our side. And that we get to those crystals before they do."


	12. Chapter 12

My apologies that this is being posted so late but we had to run a crap ton of errands today; either way though it's about 11:26 right now so technically it's still friday. ;)

**Chapter 12**

The mermaid and her friend were stationed atop a rock formation, probably just feet from the surface. In the distance the entrance to the cave was visible.

"Jeez Melody it sure is hazy out here." Flounder commented. "Maybe we should wait for Sebastian and the troops..."

"You can do what you want. I'm acting now." Before he could even try and mutter another word of sense she had already begun swimming again, but she halted to a dead stop once she heard a growl coming from the cave. Upon squinting her eyes she noticed a blob emerge from the entrance, complete with fins and fangs.

_ Undertow._

She was wordless. When she turned to Flounder for advice they heard another noise much closer, they both promptly shot into gaps in the rocks to hide.

"Harmony! Flounder! Dis is no time for games!" Sebastian called out, followed by a number of royal soldiers and Alana.

"Shh!" Melody shushed him as quietly as she could, before retreating from her hiding place, along with Flounder.

"Morgana's in there." Melody said, her stare firmly on the cave entrance. "Along with Iniquitious."

"How on earth do you keep finding dis woman?!" Sebastian asked her, amazed by her sheer efficiency.

"Never mind that. I need that entrance cleared." She said, implying the need for Undertow's removal.

"Sebastian, you lead half of the royal guards to distract the shark." Alana ordered the crab.

"De shark?" He said quietly.

"That thing Daddy made into a shrimp the other day." She followed up, pointing at the ominous figure in the distance.

"Well Alana I'm sure there's another wa-." He stopped speaking, realizing time was crucial. "Eh...Yes, your majesty." He reluctantly led the others. As every stroke became more and more terrifying, Sebastian simply thought more and more of the prisoners, and what could happen if he didn't do this. Finally Undertow took notice of the party.

"Hey! Shrimp-mon, you...oh mon." Sebastian wheezed before screaming higher than Melody could. The massive shark's acute vision quickly spotted them and, in turn, Undertow went for his new meal. The entrance was now clear.

"I know the sea witch. I've dealt with her before." Melody admitted. "A group would be too noticeable to sneak in."

"So are we going to go in with smaller groups or-." Alana managed before Melody bolted off as fast as she could to the entrance, Flounder right behind her. "Harmony!"

She swam through the darkness, terrified yet unwavering in her speed. Flounder nearly lost her several times until light finally returned to their surroundings; they both slowed, Melody's family and their captors just ahead.

The three prisoners were all tied to pillar-like formations, with Triton still unconscious.

"Why not make them into worms now?" Morgana's voice queried, making Melody and Flounder quickly hide.

"I don't have the dust." He hinted with an angered stare.

"Oh yes, for the light show." Morgana laughed, then she grabbed Attina's chin. "We can wait until dear Iniquitious gets some of his charm dust, now can't we?" Both Attina and Ariel's faces recoiled in terror, although Attina was better at hiding it. Melody and Flounder wondered what they were talking about.

"Beside his royal loftiness is still out." Iniquitious pointed out, before slapping the king a few times in another futile effort to awaken him. "Well I do believe I'll be needing the trident to break the seal." Iniquitious said sweetly to Morgana.

"Only this time." She made it very clear to him, her tentacles gripping the trident defensively.

"Have you already forgotten your liberator?" He said, her look still firm. "Of course." He muttered behind gritted teeth before she reluctantly handed it to him. "The trident is no match for Acheronic, anyways." He leered before exiting the room.

Iniquitious's absence only made Morgana laugh.

"Oh I'm sure you all can't wait to become polyps!" She cackled before leaving to the other side of the rather large room. Melody waited a second to see what she did, only to see the witch remain occupied.

Melody silently swam to the rear of the prisoners' pillars, Flounder in lieu. She waited again before even making a move to see the witch. Seeing the same thing she went to Ariel's aid first simply because she was closest. The sudden sensation of something near her wrists freaked Ariel nearly to the point of making noise. She quickly turned her head to see Harmony untying her, and Flounder keeping watch.

"Shh." Melody whispered. After she managed to fully undo the restraints Ariel went to her sister to do the same, while Melody went to Triton.

"Triton." She whispered to him, with no response. She slowly came closer to his ear in hopes of stirring him. "Grandfather-" She heard something in response, but it instead came from _behind _her; and resulted in an explosion on the wall behind Triton.

"Harmony!" Flounder yelled.

"I knew you'd be a quick learner but I never figured you'd get here _this _fast!" Morgana commented before throwing another potion. Ariel tried to hasten her efforts on Attina, only for the sea witch to aim for the both of them, this time throwing several bottles. They both barely dodged out of the way, Attina still in place.

"Go Ariel!" Attina broke her silence.

"I won't leave you." Ariel begged.

"You have a family." Attina reasoned with her. The truth was like a sword blade to Ariel. Just narrowly dodging another potion Ariel could see her sister's face had the same look, one of a true leader. "Go!" She screamed once more.

Melody grabbed Ariel's arm and sped off to the only antechamber that Morgana didn't pelt with explosives; the one besides the main entrance and the crystals. Flounder swam behind the both of them.

"Don't look back!" They could hear Attina say, her voice fading with the increasing distance before it was silenced.

They kept swimming, oblivious to anything and everything around them. Once they were a safe distance away from Morgana Melody stopped. Ariel stopped as well.

"Ariel listen we..." When she saw her mother's face she looked as if she'd seen a ghost, and she would not speak. "Ariel...Ariel!"

Flounder tried to speak to her as well. "Ariel..."

"You heard Attina!" Ariel surprisingly snapped back, almost making them both jump. "We have to leave this godforsaken place!" She had already began swimming further down the passageway, stopping further down and waiting for the brunette and the fish to follow.

"No." Melody stated firmly.

"Come on Harmony!" She reached out her hand, pleading for Melody to listen.

"They'll die if we leave them." Melody said with certainty. "We have to go back."

"But Harmony-"

"You can't keep running." She said finally. Her statement garnered both the attention of Ariel and Flounder. "Ariel you keep doing this you're going to alienate everyone you love."

Ariel floated there, with a washed-out expression.

"Besides. They're ou-." Melody cleared her throat. "Your family."

"Yeah Ariel!" Flounder finally spoke up. His agreement with Melody made something change in Ariel.

"You're right." Ariel hesitated quietly. She realized now more than ever that they couldn't keep running, they would have to take their stand.

"Come on!" Melody said, this time holding out her hand. Just when Ariel seemed to start swimming in Melody's direction the cave began to shake.

"Look out!" Melody screamed, pointing at a section of the ceiling over Ariel that had already begun collapsing. She swam away from it to Melody and Flounder's side.

"We can't go that way now!" Melody said over the aftershock.

"Iniquitious must have broken the seal!" Ariel yelled back.

"Then we don't have much time!" Flounder Figured.

"Let's not waste another second!" Melody said and they swam off. Once they finally came to the end of the tunnel Ariel and Melody came to a dead stop in caution, Flounder did not as he thought the tunnel continued.

"Flou-." Melody began before Ariel clamped her mouth shut, in wake of Morgana's approach.

Flounder caught on a bit later, but still managed to hide behind a shelf on the wall.

"The only reason I didn't just blow your sorry guts to smithereens when your little friend came in here is because damaged merchandise won't satisfy dear Iniquitious's thirst for retribution." Morgana spat towards Attina. "Or mine for that matter."

"You won't get away with this." Attina shot back.

"And who will save you?" Morgana laughed. "We just had a mini-quake, so Iniquitious has the Acheron again. And the trident too, not that it could help you anyways." She scorned. "It's magic is no match for Iniquitious." She had begun to the other side of the room again, probably to brew more potions.

"Then why do you yearn for it?" After the words left Attina's mouth Morgana froze. "Did I strike a nerve Sea Witch?" She asked in a playful tone.

"Careful." Morgana hissed, looking to one of her bottles. "Accidents do happen." Just after she mentioned the threat Triton began to stir.

"Father!" Attina exclaimed. He was just beginning to reclaim consciousness.

"How nice of you to awaken Poseidon!" Morgana said with a sarcastic sense of enthusiasm.

"Morgana..." escaped his lips as he took in what was happening. Before he could figure out much more a dark violet glow came from one of the tunnels leading to this room; eventually revealing a merman within the luminescence.

_ That merman with the drink... _Triton realized the identity of the criminal who had poisoned him. It was Iniquitious.

"Triton, you're awake." He said, tossing the trident to Morgana's ready hand. "Now you can suffer with your daughters simultaneously..." His vision caught on Ariel's empty place.

"Uh, where is she?" He started calmly to Morgana, his luminance increasing with every moment Morgana stuttered.

"Oh yes, well she...it would seem that she, well..." Morgana went over to him to speak quietly about it, in hopes that it would lessen his temper.

"WHAT?!" He roared. Morgana replied with a forced smile.

"She's down that tunnel with Melody." At the mention of her name Flounder's eyes met Melody's, both in hopes that her name would stay obscured. "It doesn't matter though, when you broke the seal it had to block their exit off."

"How did Melody get here?!" He still yelled clamorously, but not as much so as before. This time Morgana yelled back.

"You want the truth?! I let her escape back in the palace and I left clues because I want revenge on her." She admitted. "She humiliated me by making a mockery of my hideaway, and she supposedly caused my demise me in your time." She raised the trident defensively. "And you can't stop me from getting it."

"Watch it Morgana. You're treading on thin water." He growled, unafraid of the trident. "You better hope this doesn't destroy everything, especially yourself." Right as he completed the sentence he closed his eyes, turning his blind gaze towards the ceiling.

No one made a sound.

"That wench's father is en route." He snarled. He then raised his right wrist to the one gap in the ceiling, releasing an aurora of dark magic into the night sky. The sounds of a storm forming manifested itself throughout the cave.

_ I thought only the trident could do that. _Melody silently thought to herself in fear. Iniquitious then began for the cave exit.

"Where are you going?" the witch asked him.

"Well obviously if Melody could get in here your little Undertow is having some trouble outside. God I have to do everything around here because everyone else is so freaking demented." He disappeared into the darkness, even his luminescence covered by it.

"What does Ariel's daughter have to do with this?" Triton demanded.

"You're in no position to demand anything." Morgana scoffed. "But if it is a subject you are so interested in I can elaborate-." just before she could go any further Flounder jumped out and began smacking her in the face. Melody and Ariel both caught on the opportunity and tackled the sea witch.

Melody focused on breaking Morgana's grip on the trident, while Ariel tried actually grabbing it.

Just before Morgana could retaliate, Melody bit down on her slimy wrist as hard as she could; she would have time to vomit later. With her grasp unhooked Ariel fell away from them both, and promptly aimed for Morgana.

"Shoot!" Melody yelled.

The sea witch went flying across the room in a smoky haze, Melody just managing to evade the blast. Ariel quickly turned it to destroy Attina and Triton's restraints, with success.

"Daddy..." She began towards her father with hopes of the trouble over, to hear screaming coming from the exit, mostly from a certain crab.

"Ariel!" Triton asserted and he quickly reclaimed the trident, to witness the entire greatly beat and worn rescue party being rounded up like cattle; pursued by Undertow and Iniquitious.

Triton turned the shark into a worm this time, and opened fire on Iniquitious. While he was helplessly thrown into the wall at first, he actually seemed to recover.

Triton fired another shot, continuously this time, only for Iniquitious to not even flinch. The merman produced a sort of a bolt in his right hand, and struck Triton with it.

The king fell down, the lingering effects of the poison making him unable to withstand the blast. Attina came to his aid, as the trident stayed suspended in the water. No one else dared to attack Iniquitious.

_ He's too powerful. _Melody realized.

"Honestly, Morgana?" Iniquitious sighed as she just began to try and get up, still weak from the shock. "I told you, you can't handle that many prisoners..." He raised both of his hands, sealing the exits with a green haze and sending a green vortex throughout the room. To Ariel it looked familiar.

"Come on Morgana!" He cheered as she neared the lance. "You've earned it." She finally made her way to the trident and reclaimed it. "So be it Triton! Let the garden begin!" Iniquitious's voice echoed throughout the room, joined by Morgana's laugh. She began turning them all into polyps.

_ There has to be a way __out__... _Melody's mind thought nervously as she saw what was happening right before her eyes. Looking around herself she noticed Iniquitious had not sealed the entrance to the crystal supply, incidentally making her recall how quickly he'd returned after the quake.

_ Acheronic needs time to fully transfer... _Suddenly she got an idea. She grabbed the nearest arm she could; Ariel's.

"No time for words!" Meldoy shouted, the sound masked by Morgana's rather loud spells.

"All but Melody and Ariel..." Morgana paused to comment. Iniquitious seemed confused, until the sight of a ruby red tail disappearing out of the corner of his eye angered him.

_ The little Wench. _He growled. "Start the dust, the sight of only those two in agony will be more than enough for me." He tossed the bag to Morgana, and swam off.

Morgana neared the helpless worms, continuing to laugh only until Iniquitious was gone. They could tell she was still weak from the blast. Nevertheless they all recoiled in horror as she neared them, only to see her come to a stop and drop the bag.

She left for the crystal area.

Ariel and Melody both swam so fast as to ensure Iniquitious would fall behind, a difficult feat in of itself. They finally came upon a room filled top to bottom with formations of glowing chromatic crystals, just by another tunnel.

"When he comes through here, _hide._" Melody said to Ariel, already continuing down the pathway.

"What're you gonna do?" Ariel asked, fearing their lives would end unless Melody had somehow figured a plan with a plausible chance for success.

"Buy you some time."

"For what?"

"His magic has to be from a source, he pulled it together too quickly for it to not be. Destroy the biggest crystal." They could hear Iniquitious's voice growing louder and louder. "Go!"

Ariel swam off still not completely sure of what to do or even having faith in Melody's plan, but she had learned to trust her. Heck, she'd helped them with success this far hadn't she?

Melody looked back once more to see Iniquitious's shadow. She swam for the next area, hesitating just so he could get a glimpse of her tail.

"Where is the red head?!" He screamed. "You will suffer dearly for this impudence!" Ariel made sure to stay hidden as he passed, and waited for his absence to rise up. Suddenly she heard another faint sound, so faint she was almost unable to react.

She peeked over a rock to see Morgana limp her way through as well.

_ What? _

Melody's heart sank when she saw the tunnel came to a dead end. In a desperate frenzy she noticed ground seemed to reach upwards towards the end...

To the surface.

Without a moment's hesitation she rose to the stormy surface, and began to crawl onto the surface. She stopped when she noticed the rocky formations beside the cave harbored several pools of water; she backed into the water.

Without another thought she dove over the raw earth into the nearest puddle. Iniquitious surfaced just seconds after. Intimately familiar with the area he rose from the water, levitated by his magic, to survey the area.

"This field doesn't go back to the sea!" He spat. "Not unless you can hike over the mountains surrounding us!"

Melody frantically dove into another pool to further distance herself from Iniquitious, after judging the rain as strong enough to hide her. _Come on Ariel. I can't keep this up forever._

Ariel continued her frantic search, just when she believed she'd looked everywhere she came up to a rather minatory stone, one that outshone the rest with its aura.

_ Bingo. _She looked around herself for something sharp.

Iniquitious was now high in the air, surveying all the puddles that covered the near-cave. He fired a bolt into the first pool, with no response.

"I want Ariel Melody." He said, moving on. "So she can join her family in the garden!" He fired into the next body of water. Just hidden by the weather Melody kept her distance from him, diving from pool to pool constantly.

But she was running out of pools.

"Melody, give it up." Just as the words left his mouth Morgana reached the outside of the cave, and fired the trident into the sky. The weather began subsiding.

Melody's heart froze as she cowered beneath a mere five feet of water; there was nothing left to hide her. She could just see Iniquitious aiming for her pool. In a state of desperation with no other alternatives Melody came flying up just before he fired, but instead of diving into another body of water she came down hard on solid rock.

She groaned as she tried to get up, to feel the ground beneath her right elbow, or rather lack of it. She looked behind herself to stare down an obscured chasm; many tens of feet down it ended in jagged rocks.

Melody began hurriedly wriggling away from it, and she turned to see Iniquitious staring at her clearly through the subsiding rain. She froze. Morgana held her breath as she watched this, with certain expectations.

"If you will not talk," He produced a blade in each hand with his words, "then I will make you talk." Consumed by his own glory the merman dove in an attempt to impale the brunette; instead she lunged out of the way, leaving no barrier between him and the fall. Just as Ariel fractured the crystal.

His blood-curdling scream was cut off with a sudden thud.

"NO!" Something in Morgana snapped. "He was supposed to kill you!" She roared uncontrollably, shooting the trident off similarly. Melody just barely managed to dive back under without being shot.

"Iniquitious only toyed with you, mark my words I will not repeat his mistake Melody!" She shrieked, this time shooting a rock formation over Melody and causing it to collapse with such speed Melody did not have time to dive

When Morgana saw no figure come up out of the water she grunted, before moving towards the debris.

Melody hid beside the rocks, having just barely dodged them. The adjacent pools were now blocked; she was trapped. She looked down to her necklace, and held it up.

_ If we make it out of this I'll make sure mom knows I'm sorry._

As Morgana neared the rear of the wreck she stopped, waiting for her prey. Knowing she would have to force the mermaid out she directed the trident's energy at the now shallow water; boiling it and sending anything less than ten tons well away from the water.

Melody hit the surface now on her back, this time with no tricks up her sleeve, no twists of fate to save her. She could barely find the energy to sit up and face her executioner.

"And Iniquitous thought so lowly of me!" Morgana laughed, raising the trident for one final death shot. Melody could hardly see her through the rain, but she was sure it was over.

_ Maybe now Ma you'll finally be proud. _Morgana thought in victory.

Just before she fired Ariel shot out of the water and grabbed a handful of her hair, before losing her balance and falling off onto the hard rock behind her, cutting her back. Instead of striking Melody the shot bounced off some polished stone just behind her and right back to Morgana. An unimaginable number of volts claimed Morgana's heart. She let out a hideous shriek as her lifeless body fell to the ground.

Melody laid there for a second, still registering the fact that she was still alive.

Her mother had saved her, and the battle had been won.

It was over.

"I'd hoped one day the mine could be reopened for study on benign uses for these crystals," Triton said dispiritedly to his royal adviser, as he lifted the trident. "But that is no longer an option." The aura reached the Acheron, and promptly shattered all the crystals, leaving behind only dust.

"It's over," Sebastian said.

"Yes," Triton told him. After the king finished going over any crystals he missed they returned to the antechamber where everyone else waited.

"Let's go home," He announced, and not a soul there objected. When they reached the outside of the cave the silhouette of a ship against the dying storm shone itself on the surface; and for the first time ever king Triton led his subjects to it expecting relief.

"King Eric!" Triton called, garnering the attention of a sailor.

"Sir! We've found them!" He shouted before getting the commander of the ship. Eric came to the side of the ship as fast as he could.

"Triton!" He called back. Although the sea king's age affected his eyesight, he could still see Eric's gaze fall on his wife. Just a second of eye contact with Ariel was enough to warrant her transformation back to a human.

As she was lifted onto the ship she was immediately greeted by her husband.

"Ariel." Were the only words that could escape his mouth as he held her in his arms.

"It's over." She managed.

"I'm so sorry we couldn't make it sooner...we were nearly sunken." He managed, still deeming his crew's near-death experience as an unworthy excuse for being late.

"Oh Eric." She brought her eyes to his. "Why do these things keep happening to us?" she sobbed, burying herself back in his arms.

"It's okay Ariel." Eric comforted her. In light of the events that had transpired he began to feel a tear of his own near the surface, but he held it back. "It's okay."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Melody slept soundly that night, not a dream at all. Just peaceful rest.

That morning when she awoke she seemed more serene. She went to the dresser where the locket was still. Before she reached the furniture she wondered to herself; if this whole thing had been a bust. Sure she hadn't believed that last evening, but after their near-death experience, who could blame Ariel if she wanted to distance herself from the sea?

_ Well I can hope for the best. _As she lifted the shell a thought she never fathomed that could cross her mind did._ Maybe mom was right all along._

She set the shell down to look out her window one last time.

_ I'm gonna have to change rooms when I get back. _She thought to herself, detached by what had happened in here last night. As her gaze got higher and higher she realized the sun was rising. Which, in turn, meant she had less than fifteen minutes to find that portal.

She rushed back to the dresser, almost tearing the it apart in search of paper and something to write with. Once she finally found the supplies she left a letter; explaining she had to leave and melody's necklace was in this dresser. She also left her thanks, for having a great time with her friends here. She folded the sheet and set it down, then put the drawer back in place, along with the necklace.

_ Hate to do this but I can't miss that bubble!_

Once she finished leaving her regards she immediately began for the hallway, before realizing the window would save her time.

_ Gotta get out of the habit of doing this. _She swam as fast as she could in the rough direction she recalled her arrival to be, trying to remember the exact spot along the way.

_ Think think think. I remember seeing purple coral, and we were so close to the beach... _She finally stopped after seeing the shoreline was not too far away, sure that it was somewhere round here.

She looked left and right, before finally glancing downwards to see the coral, and her ride.

_ Just relax._ She told herself, and she took a deep breath. She gently swam into the vortex, and gradually began turning with it.

She closed her eyes, and began to feel that same tingly sensation of traveling through time. Just when she thought she had left she heard a nearly deafening blast, and she was violently thrown from the swirl.

She fell down paralyzed, onto the same coral from earlier. As she uselessly tried to cry for help she could see Rascus's face in the vortex, with a sad look.

When the bubbles finally subsided Melody could see something approaching in the distance, she thought it was a shark. Once it finally got close enough she could see it was a merman, one with scars and ghastly wounds.

_Iniquitious_. She laid there so overwhelmed with fear that she could hardly think.

"You thought I was dead, didn't you?" He inquired rhetorically, mocking Melody's state. "Well, any ordinary merman would have died from those rocks, but then again I'm no ordinary merman." As he strode closer the side of his face that previously held a scar revealed gross deformities, and his eye on that side was tightly welt shut.

Melody found out what it was like to gag and not move at the same time.

"You know none of this would have happened without you." He was now uncomfortably close to her. "I never would have come back without you, I never would have been discovered without you, I never would have been mutilated like this without you." He lifted her by the hair. "And I never would have been foiled without you." He spat right in her face, before dropping her.

Now he seemed to move away, but not too far. "And I know what you're thinking, 'he's going to kill me now and get some retribution', well you're wrong." He stopped. "Dead wrong. You see Morgana had this little idea before all this, but I dismissed it as I felt you never did enough harm. But now with nothing left I think I'll be doing this little plan, with what's left of my magic."

_What plan?_

"I'm gonna sneak into the palace and slay Ariel and Eric's daughter, preventing all of this. But you wouldn't care, cause your name's not really Melody, right?" He taunted her. "I'll finally get to see what it's like to be human." He laughed before leaving her.

A tear trickled down her eye.

Iniquitious stood outside the palace doors, awaiting a response. He'd slain and taken the identity of one of Eric's guards, and disposed of the body.

He was greeted by the king himself. Fortunately he had not been anywhere near Farside, and thus he had no clue what he looked like.

"I am Sherman, one of your guards your highness." He said to Eric as he bowed, keeping most of his face in the shadow beneath his hood.

"Oh I haven't had the pleasure." He shook the man's hand. "Did Grimsby appoint you?"

"Why yes." He saw the name mentioned as an excuse to enter the castle, better than the one he'd initially planned. "I was just about to speak to him again today."

"Oh. Grims is always doing stuff without asking me." Eric said with a laugh, and he let him through. As this guard passed him the obscured side of his face passed through the light for just a second, making some of his scars visible.

"I have a skin condition, your highness." He lied, causing an awkward silence. "Nothing contagious, of course."

"Oh okay." The king replied, and the man turned and left. As Eric went back to his royal duties he had an uneasy feeling about this man. But he dismissed the feeling as silliness.

Iniquitious strode through the interior of the palace for the very first time with ease. He'd studied the human world a great deal, many years before even Triton sent his blessings to Eric's kingdom and the eighteen years after. This kingdom in particular he had learned much of; to the extent that the layout was of little issue.

He made his way to the part of the castle where the royal family's rooms were kept, not a person stopping him.

_ And who would, given the rank this apparel indicates? _After several more doors he finally came up to the staircase that led to the nursery.

On the other side of the castle Eric was speaking to Grimsby, and he felt the need to bring up the guard he'd seen.

"Grimsby you honestly need to stop these unsanctioned nominates." Eric remarked. "This guard I've never seen before in my life just came through the main doors and I had to let him through because he claims you appointed him."

"What was this man's name?" Grimsby asked.

"Sherman."

"I thought that fellow was on vacation." The old man replied. Suddenly the uneasy feeling endured by the young king was multiplied ten times over.

"Does he have scars on his face?" Eric nervously asked. Grimsby frowned.

"Why no Eric, the man probably has one of the clearest complexions in the entire kingdom." With his words Eric tore from his seat and ran from the room.

"Eric where are you going?"

Iniquitious opened the door, to see that the child's room barely made his way to Melody's crib, an innocent bundle wrapped up in the center.

_ She may have won the battle, but she will lose the war. _Iniquitous reached into his coat to reveal his dagger.

"For Ursula." He raised the blade. He would slay the child now, and history would be rewritten in his favor. Just before he brought the blade down a figure in the dark came up behind him, and hit him down with a blunt wooden slab.

Ariel.

"You." He spat.

"You think for one second I would leave my daughter unguarded?!" She yelled before striking him again. "If there's any one thing Harmony taught me, it's to stand and fight!" She hit him once more, now believing him to be unconscious. She went for his blade to disarm him.

Just when she had her hand on it he came to.

"You'll not take my dagger like you stole the trident from Morgana!" He asserted, nearly tearing her wrist before she subsided.

As he got up she backed away, helpless. He took her weak stance as the opportunity he had been seeking, and he rushed to the crib, diving his blade right into the center of the bundle.

In silence.

Confused, he removed the dagger and unwrapped the bundle to see it was just that; a bundle of blankets. When he looked back at where Ariel just was he could see she had already taken off into the next room.

"Where is the baby?!" He screamed, and he tore off after her. As he kicked the door open he could see this room was a kitchen despite the darkness, and Ariel had lost her balance for some reason and had fallen onto the floor. She turned to face him.

"Tell me where she is, and I shall spare you!" He cried. Her face held an expression of resistance; the very same one she always wore when she used to argue with her father. "Very well." He readied his swinging arm and charged towards her, just as she rolled out of the way. Unfortunately for him he learned that the floors were wet too late, and he slipped and tripped into his own dagger.

Ariel hit the wall hard on her back, oblivious to the pain as her heartbeat dictated all her senses. Just before she began up her gaze caught on Iniquitious, or more specifically the blade protruding from the rear of his torso.

_ Is he... gone? _She quivered, ready to jump up and run in an instant. After a few moments of unruffled silence she finally realized it was over, and allowed herself to catch her breath. Once she finally started to get up Eric came running into the kitchen.

"Ariel there's a madman on the loose-" He began until he saw Iniquitious's body.

"He fell on his own blade," She filled him in, uneasy at the sight.

"Sherman?" He asked, confused.

"No, Iniquitious," She corrected him, confirming his suspicions.

"I thought he was dead."

"He is now," She said slowly.

"What in god's name is going on in here...?" Carlotta walked in with Ariel's daughter in her arms, wincing once her eyes caught sight of Iniquitious.

"Melody." Ariel said as Carlotta handed her the child. After she finished her barrage of kisses and hugs she reluctantly turned her gaze back to Iniquitious.

_ And that's what became of the great Iniquitious. _She thought as she readied an explanation for Carlotta. _Just like Ursula._

Once Melody regained her strength she wouldn't waste a second.

She hurried to the surface, looking for a person near the shore that could help alert the royal family. Every second of her continued existence was precious, and her heart continued its threats to leap out of her chest.

She nearly came to the point of passing out just as she saw someone come to the water. She promptly closed in on the individual, to see it was Ariel.

She hurried even quicker figuring she could avoid the middle man, only to see the infant in her arms.

"Iniquitious is gone." Ariel declared triumphantly before the mermaid could spill a warning. Melody's heart settled, but she was still speechless.

"But how..." Escaped her lips, just as Flounder came popping out of the water near her, making her jump.

"Melody!" He yelled joyously to the teenager, before realizing his mistake. He then started to pretend the whole statement was aimed at the baby. "Melody, you're safe!" He said with a forced smile.

"Flounder warned me." Ariel said past Flounder's goofiness.

"Yeah! When I saw your room was empty this morning I figured you were headed home, but then I saw you outside the window and I wanted to say goodbye but you swam so fast so I followed you and Iniquitious ambushed you so I hid and listened, and when he gave away his plan I came up here." He said, pointing to the sand.

"I get the picture." Melody said with a smile, finally at peace.

Except for one last thing...

"You know I missed it." She said to him quietly.

"Missed what?" He asked.

"My trip home." She hinted, not sure if it was a curse or a blessing. Flounder let himself go limp, thinking of a solution. He came up with one quicker than he expected.

"Why don't you talk to Triton about it?" He whispered back.

"Grandfather?" She said quietly, overwhelmed.

"Yeah!" She began to say something in opposition to the idea, but stopped.

"I guess I have no other choice." She said with a hint of enthusiasm. "But why would he believe it?"

"We'll find out; I'll go get him!" Flounder said, almost diving back under the water before Melody stopped him.

"You don't have the locket by chance, do you?" She asked, expecting the worst.

"Dang it I was right there too." He said. "I know I know I'm a guppy. I'll make sure to get it when I speak to Triton." And he sped off. Melody waited there quietly for several minutes, before finally deciding to wade in closer and get her final words in with her mom.

"Flounder went to run a quick errand, but anyways I..." The redhead gave Melody her undivided attention. "I was wrong. I thought dividing up these two worlds would be a terrible mistake, but who am I to say that after what happened? Your intentions really were for the best Ariel. Take it wherever you want from here, but I trust you'll do the right thing." Melody said, finally _truly_ appreciating her mother's sacrifice.

"But Harmony, you showed me what was right." Melody could not believe what she had heard. This was practically a different Ariel then the one she knew. "You showed me running will only do so much. Triton might go back to the idea, but I won't hear of it."

"After everything that's happened..."

"Listen. When Morgana snatched my baby, I just couldn't bear putting another loved one in jeopardy. I got scared. But I wasn't thinking it all the way through, because I was still scared from Mephisto. My heart belongs to the land, but it also belongs to the sea. There's no way I'll ever cut off the two worlds." Although she had never personally seen that world, she could see now more than ever the damage it would cause.

"You know I can't guarantee more evil sorcerers or sea witches won't come and cause more trouble." Melody admitted.

"We'll deal with it." Just after Ariel said that Flounder came up.

"That was fast." Melody remarked.

"He's still weak… Attina wants you to go down there." He swam to the very front of the wave without being carried onto sand. "Here Ariel." Flounder finally returned the locket.

"Thanks Flounder." Ariel said before kissing him on the nose. As she handed the heirloom to her child she noticed the similar necklace Melody was wearing.

"I guess this is goodbye." Melody said, Ariel already aware of her need to go home. Melody turned, and began swimming for a deeper area to dive into.

"Wait!" Ariel called out. "Will we ever see you again?" With that question Melody looked to her necklace, smiling.

"I promise." She began only to stop once more, this time turning around. "Oh, and one last thing. Look before you leap, Mom." And with that the mermaid dove under the sea, her glimmering red tail disappearing beneath the waves.

_ Mom? _Ariel wondered, before something in the back of her mind clicked. The necklace, everything about Harmony...

She turned and walked back to the castle, singing a lullaby to her daughter.

_ Goodbye...Melody._

En route back to Atlantica Melody noticed that Flounder had become very uneasy.

"What's wrong?" She queried.

"Nothing." He replied suddenly.

"Seriously what is it?"

"I'm fine." He tried to emphasize, but Melody could see past his words.

"Seriously even when everyone got kidnapped last night you looked better than this, now what is it?" They both stopped, and Flounder gave a heavy sigh.

"When King Triton made Ariel human I was so happy for her, she'd finally gotten what she'd been seeking her entire life. It was perfect. But..." He paused for a moment, choking down a sob. "But...I got lonely when she left. I'd seen Ariel nearly every day of my life since I could barely swim, and not being able to do that anymore...it just...it felt like a part of me had been torn apart." He moved his gaze to Melody, making eye contact. "You're the closest anyone's ever come to replacing that gap, Melody. I knew you had to go so soon but now that you actually have to..." For another second there was silence, and Melody could feel her heart go out to her old friend that she'd just made.

"But Flounder, I've done something better," She said. "I brought Ariel back to you. If Morgana wasn't caught...remember the divider they were ready to put up?" He nodded solemnly. "It happened, at least in my time it did. I didn't know merpeople existed until I was twelve years old." The sheer extremity of what she'd just said made Flounder feel a little more comfortable. "But because I came here Ariel says she won't hear of it. And I talked to her on the beach, she wants to visit soon. It won't be like their honeymoon or her pregnancy where she can only see you on the surface,"

"I guess it's not that bad," He reasoned slowly.

"And," Melody's face lit up, "you can still see me. I just can't talk yet," Flounder smiled and chuckled at the silliness of the statement.

"Come on," She said.

They finally came through the city's gates and into the castle, just outside the throne room.

"What do I say?" Melody asked Flounder.

"The truth," He replied. Once she built up the courage she finally entered Triton's den, and began the conversation.

"Triton,"

"Harmony. Flounder," He greeted them both, and they both bowed.

"Well I had something I had to talk to you about before I can be on my way," Melody began.

"Yes?"

"Well um..." She bit her lip, trying to think of something to say. "My name's not really Harmony." She admitted rather quickly, before removing her necklace and opening it.

"It's not the one I borrowed!" Flounder helped her as she handed it to him. He inspected it with hardly any interest, although he did take notice of its age.

"I've been meaning to ask you about this." He commented.

"I don't actually have the other locket to show you because Flounder finally returned it but-"

"I don't need to see it." He said, closing it and returning it to her.

"What?" She asked.

"That's why they used your name in the cave." He said. Suddenly the room grew very quiet, and it took Triton himself to break the silence. "You know I think I knew all along in a way." He realized. "Given the way Sebastian described your actions last night you sounded a lot like your mother." She blushed with the accusation; it was not the first time she'd been labeled rebellious. "Melody."

"That's not the reason I came here though." Melody said, preparing her request. "You see Iniquitious didn't actually die last night-"

"But Ariel stopped him at the castle on land!" Flounder added. "He's done for good now."

"Anyways before she did he kinda...trapped me."

"And she missed her magic bubble home!" Flounder said, unaware of how silly he sounded.

"And the reason I came here is because...well I thought you're the only one that could help."

"I didn't know wizard fish did that." He chuckled. "But Iniquitious is stopped?" He asked for reassurance.

"Of course." Melody told him. He sighed in such a way Melody was sure she was screwed.

"Then you're in luck." Her face lit up.

"Thank you." She said while gasping a sigh of relief. "Grandfather."

"I guess this is goodbye." Flounder said, a tear forming in his eye.

"Remember Flounder," She pointed upwards. "I'm not going anywhere." Finally accepting her need to go home Flounder flew into Melody's arms for a goodbye hug, one that she gladly returned.

"This time you get to visit me." She giggled, playing with his fins. "And of course give Sebastian my compliments."

"He'd never believe it."

"Still."

"Are you ready?" Triton asked her graciously. She took a deep breath

"Yes." She said. "So do you need a year or something...?" He shook his head.

"The trident already knows." Deep down the girl marveled at the tool, a powerful instrument whether in the hands of the king or a sea witch. But at the end of the day it stood for what was right.

And it was her ticket home.

She gave him some space for the magic to take effect, and Triton engulfed her in a brilliant aura. As always it's effects were pain-free under Triton's guidance, and within seconds she was gone.

A minute later after Flounder had left Arista came in, with a question.

"Do you know where Harmony is, daddy? The maids said her room is empty."

"She's gone home, dear."

A/N:

One chapter left guys and gals! The remainder of this chapter is the result of my brain trying to find relief to a possible plot hole with Triton's last actions of this chapter and Athena; read on if you find the material interesting.

A conjecture I should throw out to make what just happened seem more plausible within the intricate yet largely officially unladen universe of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Many of you may be asking yourselves why on earth, if the trident can sends individuals into the past, would Triton have not attempted to use it to save his queen? I have but thought of a few at least somewhat satisfying reasons imho that would attempt to explain this. Firstly, it is well within reason that the trident could only permit one-way trips, and thus it would be plausible that Triton would not wish to trap any merfolk in the past, or even be willing to ask anyone to go to such an unselfish expenditure (perhaps the king felt in his pride that no one other than he should dare attempt something so silly, and of course that was out of the question as his people depend upon him). Heck, how do we even know anyone else other than Triton (or Melody or Flounder now) even knows the trident can do this? Secondly, we do not know the exact circumstances surrounding Athena's death (assuming you count the series as canon rather than the prequel), perhaps even if the trident could both send and retrieve objects through time the exact circumstances surrounding Athena's final hours may have been too dire to have been avoided, or perhaps even if he could have saved her it might have meant bad things for the rest of his family. And lastly, a bit of an outlandish idea, but what if the trident had no time traveling power at all, but instead within its ability to right wrongs within spacetime? What I mean is if someone's not from this time it sends them back, the resultant effect being a return ticket to time travelers. The more you think of it the more simpler it seems (at least I think :p). Nonetheless I would say it far within reason that the trident could send someone back through time and yet Triton would not entertain the thought of a trans-time rescue for his late Athena.


	14. Chapter 14

Here we are guys, after 13 chapters we're finally at the end. :') I'd like to say thanks to everyone that's taken the time to read this story, and all my reviewers. Without you guys I'd really have no reason to be writing. You mean the world to me. :D

Well, without further delay, let's wrap this little tale up.

**Chapter 14**

Melody opened her eyes, to see a wizard fish swimming away in the distance.

"Rascus!" She called. When he turned she started waving. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome kid!" After they exchanged thanks they both left, each with somewhere to be. Melody looked for her mother, the layout of the area just starting to come back to her.

Just past some more much smaller ravines and coral her mother found her.

"Melody!"

"Mom!" She cried as she hugged her.

"Oh thank god you're alright!"

"I'm so sorry..." She admitted, having regretted throwing such hurtful words at her mom. "I never knew what you had to go through."

"Just don't ever run off again on me again!"

"I shouldn't have said those things."

"What things?" She stopped the hug to make eye contact with her daughter.

"Those things I said to you."

"That you wanted to see the canyon?" Ariel said, wondering why her daughter felt the need to apologize.

"No I said rotten things to you." She said, unwilling to repeat them.

"Melody dear we never argued." Melody thought for a second, before accepting the fact that as a result of her wish she had not said bad things to her mom. "The rocks must have knocked you silly. Let's go back to the palace."

"Still I'm sorry for everything mean I've ever said." Ariel's daughter persisted, unwilling to not apologize for her memories.

"It's fine Melody." They were both pretty quiet for the rest of the swim back.

_ There's something different about mom. _Melody thought to herself. _She just seems more...vibrant. _On the way back she also noticed that the flowers around here were brighter, almost brimming with more life. _Could that mean... Nah don't get your hopes up. What're the odds of what happened having any effect on my life? Besides that ONE argument?_

Once they could see Atlantica in the distance Melody finally broke the silence.

"So are we gonna go exploring ever again?" She asked her mom, afraid her overprotective nature would forbid any plans in the foreseeable future.

"I think we could use a little break."

"I know but you wanted to finally do this today and I blew it."

"You do know it was your idea to come out here right?" Ariel inquired. "It was last week too. Just like it is every week we come down here."

"Really?" Melody asked. Her mother sighed.

"Next time we stick with the ships. The ones that don't cause concussions." She scratched her daughter's scalp in a playful manner.

_ Maybe I did change a little. _She looked at the palace, only to have thoughts regarding Triton's fate come flooding back into her mind. She wondered if she was so lucky.

Suddenly something she'd never seen before came up to the both of them, although she figured out what, or rather _who_ it was instantly.

_ "_Dad?" Melody said in disbelief, seeing her father as a merman.

"Melody!" He caught her in a hug. "Thank god you're safe."

"You're here! Under the sea!" She exclaimed joyously.

"What are you talking about? I come every year Mel." She laughed a joyous chortle, beginning to wonder if she was dreaming.

"Did you guys get lost?" He asked Ariel.

"I _never _get lost." She said.

"I know but it happens sometimes."

"Like the first day you came to daddy's palace?" She giggled.

"The halls all look the same!"

"They do not!" Her parents continued bickering until someone else came to meet them. Someone that made Melody feel as though her world had been turned upside down.

"Grandfather?!" She wrapped her arms around the old merman, unwilling to let go. Just as she had five years ago. But then again, wasn't that now in a different future? Or past? So now this was the first time she gave him a dramatic hug.

But to her it wasn't.

"I... I thought I would never see you again..." She cried tears of joy, knowing her mission had been a success. _It worked. _The soothing pair of two very simple words echoed throughout her mind, inevitably joined by a third. _It actually worked._

"Oh dear Melody. When we received news of the seaquake in the area you and your mother were we were all so worried, that something terrible had happened." He pulled away to look into his granddaughters eyes. "But Flounder wouldn't hear of it." She smiled a great big smile, for a friend who could notice the difference of seventeen years and be there for her twice.

"Let's go home." Melody said, and she went off to tell the tale. The tale of a great undersea avalanche, the tale of a special wizard fish, the tale of a great journey across time that had saved their king. And whether or not they believed it, she could care less.

A/N:

Well I hope you guys enjoyed this little tale. Although I would have to credit my love for Disney's version of the classic fairytale (as well as Ms. Jarvey's input), nonetheless this has proven that I can complete a fanfic. :)

I already mentioned some things that inspired this writing (way back in the A/N for ch1), but I didn't really mention why this was a time travel story. In essence, my original intentions in writing a time travel piece was to keep the sequel as canon, while rewriting it. So from the timeline of this story, everything we've seen on the big screen involving Melody never happened (which I can definitely imagine some TLM fans would appreciate), they now only exist in her memories (like the 2009 Star Trek film). Long story short, this is my TLM 2 remake.

Prime time for a sequel? Eh...

If you did enjoy this story, or you hated it, or you even have something to comment on then by all means leave a review; any and all will be greatly appreciated.

-Jerry533482


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